SC to hear on November 22 pleas against bull-taming sport Jallikattu

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would hear on November 22 a batch of pleas challenging Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra laws allowing bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu’ and bullock cart races.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice K M Joseph was told by senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for the petitioners, that the amendments with respect to Jallikattu are unconstitutional.

The bench, also comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and C T Ravikumar, said it would take up the matter in November.

The top court had earlier said that the petitions challenging the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017, needed to be decided by a larger bench since they involved substantial questions relating to interpretation of the Constitution.

The bench framed five questions to be adjudicated upon by the larger bench.

The petitions, including one filed by animal rights body PETA, have challenged the state law that allowed the bull-taming sport in Tamil Nadu.