Jallikattu can't be permitted just because it's centuries-old: SC

Jallikattu, the bull taming festival, cannot be permitted just because it is a centuries-old tradition, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.

It said that the practice has to be examined on statutory and constitutional principles.
“In 1899, ten thousand girls below 12 years of age were married. Should we allow it today because it was a tradition at that time? It is a constitutional and statutory issue. We definitely will examine whether such a sport is permissible by law or not,” a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman said.

The court made the poser as Tamil Nadu’s counsel contended that Jallikattu should be permitted as it showcased a tradition that has been part of the custom and culture of people of the state for 5,000 years. 

The court put the matter for final hearing on August 23. The bench also made it clear that the matter may be referred to a larger bench if the parties were able to convince its 2014 verdict banning the practice, which also prevailed in Karnataka as “Kambala”, was not legally sustainable.

The apex court had in January refused to lift its stay on use of bulls in Tamil Nadu’s Jallikattu festival and rejected a plea that prohibition on the centuries-old tradition would force the farmers rearing the animal to send it to the slaughter house in Kerala. The Union government had, on January 7, passed a notification allowing use of bulls in any sport or event.

Acting on a plea by Animal Welfare Board of India and others, the apex court had on May 7, 2014 banned Jallikattu and bullock-cart race organised in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, respectively, saying that right to dignity and fair treatment was not confined to human beings alone, but to animals as well.