The Animal Welfare Board of India and other animal rights organisations have moved the Supreme Court against Tamil Nadu’s new law allowing popular bill-taming sport Jallikattu.
Senior advocates AM Singhvi and Anand Grover mentioned the applications before a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, who said the court will hear them on January 30.
However, the hearing will be subject to the availability of the other judge, Justice Rohinton Nariman.
Justice Misra and Justice Nariman had heard the main matter after which they reserved the verdict. They are expected to give a judgment on the validity of the Centre’s 2016 notification that allowed Jallikattu despite the top court banning it in 2014.
On Tuesday, the Centre informed the apex court that it intended to withdraw the said notification.
According to the petitioners, the Supreme Court held in 2014 that Jallikattu per se was cruel and the Tamil Nadu law should be stayed pending the final outcome of the case.
The state cannot regulate the sport by amending the central law to defeat the purpose of the judgment. By legislating, the state was attempting to overturn and overcome the 2014 verdict, the court was informed. “It’s in the teeth of the SC judgment,” Singhvi told HT.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017 piloted by chief minister O Panneerselvam, was adopted unanimously by a voice vote in the assembly after a brief debate on January 23. The bill will now be sent for approval to the President.
Nearly 70 caveats have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking prior hearing if pleas challenging the new legislation allowing Jallikattu in the state come up for consideration.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Tuesday told a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra that the Centre has decided to withdraw the January 6, 2016 notification issued by the ministry of environment and forests allowing the sport.
Source: HindustanTimes