New Delhi: Days after the central government gave a go ahead to Jallikattu, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the bull-taming festival would not be celebrated in Tamil Nadu this year.
Hearing a bunch of petitions against the government order, the apex court stayed the Centre’s notification allowing Jallikattu.
The Animal Welfare Board had also filed a plea in the Supreme Court against the comeback of Jallikattu.
"As an interim measure, we direct that there shall be stay of notification dated January 7, 2016 issued by Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF)," a bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and N V Ramana said.
The bench also issued notice to the MoEF and Tamil Nadu on petitions filed by various bodies including Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) seeking striking down of the Centre's notification and sought their replies within four weeks.
Earlier during the day, a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur referred the petitions to the present bench as one of the judges Justice Banumathi, who hails from Tamil Nadu, recused from hearing the batch of petitions.
The four-year-old ban on holding of Jallikattu was lifted on January 8 by the Modi government in poll-bound Tamil Nadu with certain restrictions.
This comes even as the Tamil Nadu government has welcomed the decision of the central government to lift ban on the festival. State Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his 'prompt response' to her government's appeal for allowing the sport.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the AIADMK chief had said, "I am very grateful to you for your prompt response in the matter, which has enabled the conduct of Jallikattu."
The petitions were filed by Aniwal Welfare Board and
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India had also filed a plea in the Supreme Court, demanding that the Centre's recent notification allowing Jallikattu and bullock cart races be "struck down".
According to PETA India, a battery of urgent petitions led by the government advisory body Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and two sitting AWBI members as petitioners, and supported by animal protection groups PETA, Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), Compassion Unlimited plus Action (CUPA), were mentioned before the Chief Justice's bench of the Supreme Court.
PETA India had pointed that the Environment Ministry's notification allowing jallikattu and bull races came despite a Supreme Court judgement which held that the Ministry cannot allow these races and cannot modify the notification dated July 11, 2011 (which banned forcing bulls to perform) without consulting the AWBI.
(With PTI Inputs)
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