Many animal welfare groups filed petitions against Tamil Nadu's new law allowing Jallikattu The Supreme Court, as-of-now, did not issue an immediate stay on the bull taming sport However, the court will hear the pleas against the new law in six weeks
The Supreme Court today did not stay Tamil Nadu's ordinance allowing Jallikattu to be legally held across the state. However, the court did ask the state to send a reply about its law in six weeks time. As a technicality, the Court also allowed the Centre to withdraw its notification on Jallikattu.
The Court did agree to hear a plea against the new state law however, and further hearings shall now happen in six weeks time.
Legal wranglings over the contentious Jallikattu issue has blown up into a controversy with supporters of the bull-taming sport telling the Supreme Court that the plea challenging the new Tamil Nadu legislation allowing it, has been filed on behalf of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) by "playing fraud on the court".
Pro-Jallikattu advocates in their plea claimed that a "total fraud" has been played on the court by an advocate who filed the AWBI plea on January 25 "as there is no permission by the Animal Welfare Board to file such application", which amounted to contempt of court. A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra which allowed filing of interim applications said all matters pertaining to Jallikattu will be heard on January 31.
Amidst this development, the Centre also filed a plea seeking to withdraw the January 6 notification allowing the bull-taming sport in Tamil Nadu. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi mentioned before the bench that the Centre has filed a plea seeking to withdraw the January 2016 notification. Justice Misra said the appropriate bench, which has heard and reserved the verdict, will take up these matters.
On January 25, the apex court had agreed to hear on January 30, the pleas of AWBI and other animal rights organisations challenging the new law passed by Tamil Nadu Assembly to allow bull taming sport Jallikattu in the state.
