NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has referred matters pertaining to bull-taming sport Jallikattu to a Constitution bench. Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice RF Nariman. They framed five questions to be adjudicated on by the Constitution bench. While reserving the order, the court had said the larger bench would decide whether states had the “legislative competence” to make such laws on grounds, including that “Jallikattu” and bullock cart racing fell under the cultural rights enshrined under Article 29(1) and could be protected constitutionally.
“We have formulated five questions for the Constitution bench,” Justice Nariman said while giving the order. The SC had said on December 12 last year that it would refer to a five-judge constitution bench a batch of pleas challenging Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra laws allowing Jallikattu and bullock cart races. On November 6, the court sought a response from the Tamil Nadu government on a plea of animal rights body PETA, challenging the state law that allowed the sport in the state. It had tagged it with other pending petitions on the issue after issuing a notice on PETA's plea.
The group for animals has assailed the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Bill 2017, passed by the state assembly on several grounds, including that it circumvented the apex court verdict holding the sport as “illegal” in the state. It alleged that it was a blood sport in which bulls were subjected to different types of cruelty. The SC had earlier dismissed the Tamil Nadu government's plea seeking a review of the 2014 judgement banning the use of bulls for Jallikattu events in the state. In its 2014, the court had said that bulls could not be used as performing animals, either for Jallikattu events or bullock-cart races in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra or elsewhere in the country, banning their use all over India.
