Jallikattu: The SC reserves the right to rule on a number of lawsuits against the bull taming sport of Jallikattu

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its judgment on a series of pleas challenging Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra’s laws permitting the bull-taming sport of ‘jallikattu’ and ox-cart racing. “Jallikattu” also known as “eruthazhuvuthal” is a bull taming sport played in Tamil Nadu as part of the Pongal harvest festival.

A five-judge Constitutional Chamber, headed by Justice KM Joseph, heard submissions from senior lawyers, including Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Tamil Nadu, and several other lawyers representing the interveners.

The bench, which also included Justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar, asked the parties to submit a joint set of written submissions within a week.

The Supreme Court had previously said that the petitions to challenge the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act 2017 would need to be decided by a larger jury as they contained substantive issues of interpretation of the Constitution. The bank formulated five questions for the larger bank to assess.

The petitions, including one from animal rights group PETA, have challenged the state law allowing the sport of bull taming in Tamil Nadu.