CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday chaired a meeting to discuss the case against jallikattu filed by animal welfare activists and scheduled to be heard by a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court on November 23 (final hearing). During the meeting, the CM ordered the animal husbandry department to engage experienced advocates for the case.
The activists challenged the Union government’s January 2016 notification exempting jallikattu and bullock-cart races from performances in which bulls cannot be used. Besides, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TN Amendment) Act, 2017, which was passed following protests by jallikattu supporters, was challenged in the apex court. The activists also claimed the Centre’s notification and the 2017 amendment of the Act violated the law and the 2014 order of the Supreme Court, which had banned jallikattu. “The Centre’s 2016 notification and TN PCA Act 2017 legalised jallikattu, superseding SC’s judgment,” they said.
Jallikattu supporters from TN, who impleaded in the case, said the Centre’s 2016 notification did not remove bulls from the list of performing animals, but only provided exemption for using them for jallikattu in TN and bullock-cart races in Karnataka, Punjab, Maharashtra and a few other States, with some riders. The Act was amended to preserve the cultural heritage of TN and to ensure the survival and wellbeing of naive bull breeds.
T Rajesh of Jallikattu Meetpu Kazhagam, who impleaded in the case, said: “While the Union government should justify granting exemption for jallikattu, TN government, too, has to present how the amendment of the Act preserves the cultural heritage of the State.”