PETA moves SC for review of jallikattu verdict
In its review plea, PETA has said the judgment suffers from errors apparent on the face of the record and warrants the exercise of review jurisdiction by the apex court.
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NEW DELHI: The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has moved the Supreme Court seeking review of its May 18 verdict upholding the validity of the amended laws of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka which allowed bull-taming sport ‘jallikattu,’ bullock-cart races and buffalo racing sport ‘Kambala.’
In its review plea, PETA has said the judgment suffers from errors apparent on the face of the record and warrants the exercise of review jurisdiction by the apex court.
In an unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph (now retired) had noted 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.
In its verdict, the apex court had said Jallikattu is a type of bovine sports 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”.
“Our decision on the Tamil Nadu Amendment Act would also guide the Maharashtra and the Karnataka Amendment acts and we find all the three Amendment Acts to be valid legislations,” the bench, also comprising justices Ajay Rastogi (now retired), Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar, had said in a 56-page judgment.
In its plea seeking review of the verdict, PETA has said these ‘sports’ are against the natural instinct, behaviour and anatomy of the bulls, bullocks and buffaloes, serve no essential purpose and “cause untold suffering, pain and cruelty to the animals used in them”.
It said detailed documents were placed on record by the petitioner in the form of elaborate on-ground eyewitness investigation reports between 2017 and 2022 for various locations where ‘Jallikattu’, ‘Kambala’ and bullock cart races were conducted.
“The judgment fails to consider any part of the detailed factual and scientific record which was produced before this court that shows that ‘Jallikattu’ and buffalo and bullock-cart racing events are inherently cruel and in fact, continue to be marked by immense cruelty even after the passage of the impugned amendments,” the plea said.
It claimed the apex court has “committed a grave error of law” by justifying the impugned amendments, which are legislative acts, on the sole basis of subordinate rules or notifications framed under these enactments by the government.
