The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the nod to resume bullock cart races in Maharashtra that were prohibited since 2017.
A Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar said the amended rules notified by the State under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 would apply to the conduct of the races until a final decision is arrived at by a Constitution Bench of the court.
The court found no reason to prohibit races in Maharashtra when jallikattu and bullock cart races were happening in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka respectively on the strength of amendments made by these States in their rules.
The court was hearing an application filed by the Maharashtra government, which had sought that the ban on bullock cart races in the State should be lifted as they were held in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Maharashtra had said that there was a prohibition on bullock cart races as the Bombay High Court, in its interim order, refused to lift the ban in 2017, while there was no stay on the use of bulls for sport in the other two States.
“The validity of the amended provision of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the rules framed thereunder by the state of Maharashtra would operate during the pendency of the writ petition, as the entire matter has been referred to the constitution bench, including to consider the question as to whether the similar amended Act of the state of Tamil Nadu overcomes the defects pointed out in the two judgements of this court,” Justice Khanwilkar’s Bench observed.
In February 2018, the Supreme Court referred to a Constitution Bench the question whether activities such as jallikattu and bullock cart races form part of the cultural heritage of people in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra under Article 29 (1) of the Constitution.
PETA, activists’ plea
The reference came in petitions filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and activists to strike down the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act of 2017 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Conduct of Jallikattu) Rules of 2017.
They contended that the amended laws have opened the gates for the conduct of the popular bull-taming sport in the name of culture and tradition despite a 2014 ban by the Supreme Court.
Though commonly used to protect the interests of minorities, Article 29 (1) mandates that “any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same”.
The Constitution Bench would also look into whether jallikattu and bullock cart race laws would actually subserve the objective of “prevention” of cruelty to animals under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960.
The apex court had framed the question whether these laws “perpetuate cruelty to animals and therefore can it be said to be a means of cruelty to animals?”
The Constitution Bench would also consider whether the amended laws, in pith and substance, would ensure “the survival and well-being of the native breed of bulls”.
In 2014, in the A. Nagaraja judgment, the Supreme Court held jallikattu as cruelty to bulls.
The PETA petition contends that the new laws of 2017, which allow bulls to be used for sport, violate the five internationally recognised freedoms – the freedom from hunger, malnutrition and thirst; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; and freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour.
