A Supreme Court bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice RF Nariman yesterday referred to a Constitution bench five questions for deciding whether jallikattu, a popular bullock taming sport of Tamil Nadu held during Pongal celebrations, can be termed as constitutional.
As per yesterday’s order, a new bench comprising of five judges will now adjudicate on the constitutional validity of this traditional sport and will decide whether it can be recognized as a fundamental cultural right of citizens under Article 29 of the Constitution.
The bench in its order said that petitions before it relate to substantial questions of law and, hence, they need to be decided by a five-judge bench. This new bench will decide whether Tamil Nadu’s amendment law to allow jallikattu looks after the well-being of bulls and whether it is contrary to a judgement of the apex court that had banned the sport.
In 2014, the Supreme Court had ruled that bulls cannot be used as performing animals for events like jallikattu and bullock cart races. Tamil Nadu’s review petition against this judgement was dismissed by the Court, leading to large scale protests by people opposing the ban.
Following this ruling, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra had amended laws like Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to legalize and regulate such events. Animal rights activists and NGOs like PETA had challenged the constitutional validity of these amendments before the Supreme Court.