Supreme Court not to pass Jallikattu verdict for a week

The apex court took into account the Centre's submission that they were in talks with Tamil Nadu to find a way out in the matter.

A view of the Supreme Court premises. | PTI

NEW DELHI: In an unusual move, Centre on Friday approached the Supreme Court, seeking to hold back a judgment on jallikattu since the final order, in any case, might inflame further protests across the state of Tamil Nadu.

Court had reserved its order on a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's notification allowing the bull-taming sport from December 7 last year.

Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi appeared before a bench comprising Justice Dipak Mishra, who had reserved the judgement and said, " Centre and state government is working to come out with a solution."

On this, the bench asked, "How much time would the government require?"

AG Rohtagi responded, "At least a week."

The bench agreed to his demand.

Thousands of people are protesting across the state of Tamil Nadu against the ban on the popular bull-taming sport.

Yesterday, a bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud told a petitioner lawyer, who had, in his plea, sought protection to the protestors in Chennai's Marina beach that, “Let the Madras High Court deal with it. You (petitioner) go there. Why do you come all the way to Supreme Court.”

Advocate N Rajaraman, who mentioned the plea before the bench, said the protestors should not be assaulted like the Ramlila Maidan incident of 2011 where Baba Ramdev supporters were lathicharged by police and the court should also take suo moto cognizance of the development, thereby providing relief to the pro-Jallikattu agitators.

Centre too had issued a notification lifting the ban on Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu with certain restrictions, which was challenged in the apex court by the Animal Welfare Board of India, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA), a Bangalore-based NGO and others.

The Supreme Court had on January 21 last year refused to re-examine its 2014 judgement banning the use of bulls for Jallikattu events or bullock-cart races across the country.

It had also stayed the January 8 notification of Centre and questioned the Centre over the notification allowing the use of bulls in events like Jallikattu, saying that its 2014 verdict banning the use of the animals cannot be negated.

The court in its 2014 judgement had said that bulls cannot be used as performing animals, either for Jallikattu events or bullock-cart races in the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra or elsewhere in the country, and had banned their use across the country.

The apex court had also earlier declared Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act, 2009 as constitutionally void, for being violative of Article 254(1) of the Constitution.