The Gauhati High Court quashed an Assam government SOP of last year that had allowed buffalo and bulbul fights during the Magh Bihu festivities.A bench of Justice Devashis Baruah passed the order on Tuesday in response to petitions filed by PETA India.The bench, disposing of two writ petitions filed in the matter, said the notification issued by the state government in December 2023 along with an SOP for the conduct of buffalo and bulbul fights was in contravention of provisions of different wildlife protection laws and a previous Supreme Court order.Justice Baruah said the Assam government could have amended laws to allow these fights as done by some other states but issuing an executive order to overcome the existing provisions "is not permissible"."The notification of December 2023 is set aside and quashed. The state of Assam is further directed to ensure due compliance of acts for animal welfare," the court said.Senior advocate Diganta Das, appearing for the petitioner, submitted before the court that the buffalo and bulbul fights violate the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and that the bulbul fights additionally violate the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.Buffalo and bulbul bird fights, traditionally organised as part of Magh Bihu celebrations in mid-January, resumed this year after a gap of nine years, with the state government publishing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for organising them.The SOP focussed on the safety of the animals, including a ban on the use of any intoxicating drugs or sharp weapons to control them. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attended both buffalo and bulbul fights in January.He had said that it was "our duty to preserve and take forward our heritage, but with responsibility".The petitioner claimed in the high court that terrified and severely injured buffaloes were forced to fight through beatings and that starved and intoxicated bulbuls were made to fight over food.A 2014 Supreme Court order had disallowed the buffalo fights due to the injuries sustained by the animals. Bulbul fights have also been suspended since then.
