SC verdict tomorrow on pleas challenging law allowing bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu’

The Supreme Court will rule on a slew of petitions challenging the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governments’ laws allowing the bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu’ and bullock cart races on Thursday.

The verdict will be delivered by a five-judge Constitution bench comprised of Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and CT Ravikumar. The Tamil Nadu government had defended the event of ‘Jallikattu’ and told the apex court that sporting events can also be a cultural events and there is no cruelty on the bulls in ‘Jallikattu’.

“This is an incorrect notion that an activity, which is in nature of a sport or entertainment or amusement, cannot have a cultural value,” the state had said.

Countries like Peru, Columbia and Spain consider bullfighting a part of their cultural heritage, the Tamil Nadu government had argued, adding that bulls involved in ‘Jallikattu’ are maintained by farmers around the year.

Earlier, the apex court had asked the Tamil Nadu government whether an animal can be used in bull-taming sports like ‘Jallikattu’ for the entertainment of humans and how is the sport necessary for preserving the native breed of bulls.

Tamil Nadu government in its affidavit had stated that Jallikattu is “not merely an act of entertainment or amusement but an event with great historic, cultural and religious value.”