NEW DELHI:The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea urging it to pass an order on Jallikattu before the harvest festival of Pongal, which begins on Saturday.
The Bench refused to allow the plea from a group of lawyers, who sought pronouncement of the verdict early. “We are not here to give an explanation to anyone whether the draft is ready or not,” the Bench said.
The court had reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s notification allowing the sport and issued a statement clarifying that the same Bench of Justices Dipak Mishra and R F Nariman will pronounce the verdict, and not Justice R Banumathi who belongs to Tamil Nadu.
The development came just a day after the AIADMK urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately issue an ordinance to remove bulls from the list of animals that are banned from being exhibited or trained, so that Jallikattu could be held smoothly this year. The apex court had banned Jallikattu on grounds of cruelty towards animals in a 2014 verdict.
Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, who met a delegation led by Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai earlier this week on the issue, blamed the previous UPA government for including bulls in the list of animals prohibited from being exhibited or trained as performing animals.
Dave asserted that there was no ill-treatment of bulls and expressed confidence that the SC will look into all the aspects while giving its verdict.
The court had earlier questioned the Centre for its January 2016 notification allowing use of bulls in events like Jallikattu, saying its 2014 verdict banning the use of the animals cannot be negated. The Centre, however, had justified the stand saying it could ensure that the bulls were not tortured or fed with alcohol before the sport.