President And Governor of Tamil Nadu Give Their Nod To Jallikattu, Sport To Held Tomorrow

As per Business Standard, the President of India and the Governor of Tamil Nadu on Saturday gave their nod to an ordinance allowing the bull-taming sport of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu. Jallikattu will now take place after a gap of three years on Sunday and Monday across Tamil Nadu.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had agreed to delay its judgement on the legality of Jallikauttu due to “huge unrest” in the State of Tamil Nadu, as reasoned by the Centre. However, hours after its request, the Central government approved a draft ordinance by the Tamil Nadu State government to make an exception for bulls in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA). Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had previously expressed his concerns on the interim ban on Jallikattu which caused grave tensions in the State. He requested a bench led by Justice Dipak Misra to delay the judgement by at least a week as the Central and State governments desired to find a common ground to resolve the issue.

A week after the bench decided to stay on the apex court’s original 2014 order of banning Jallikattu, the Central government cleared Tamil Nadu of all legal hurdles posed on the sport. The draft ordinance received expedited consent from four Union ministries on Friday evening – Animal Husbandry department of Agriculture Ministry, Environment, Law, and finally Home.

This means that Jallikattu will be celebrated on Sunday as the PCA will be amended and bulls will be removed from its list of “performing animals”. The ordinance also contains other provisions safeguarding animals from cruelty and will list measures to ensure safety of spectators.

Both the Central and State governments should be prepared to handle the legal implications of the ordinance. Though the ban on Jallikattu has increased social unrest in Tamil Nadu, a lift on the ban is going to attract protests from various animal rights groups.