NEW DELHI: A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court has said that the animal sports, Jallikattu and Kambala, are legal and upheld the validity of the laws passed by three state governments to allow these sports.
In a unanimous verdict, the bench said that the three laws passed by the Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka governments were not “colourable legislations” but valid piece of laws as additional safeguards introduced by these amendments minimised cruelty caused to animals.
They noted that The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017, The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 2017 and The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Second Amendment) Act, 2017 were enacted by the respective state legislatures and had received presidential assent.
The Supreme Court had in 2014 had banned these sports holding them to be violative of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, (PCA), 1960.
The bench said Jallikattu is a type of bovine sport and “we are satisfied on the basis of materials disclosed before us, that it is going on in the state of Tamil Nadu for at least last few centuries”. The laws were declared to be constitutional and not violative of Article 21 (right to life and liberty), Article 14 (right to equality) and fundamental duties under Article 51A that seeks to encourage compassion for animals.
