The Maharashtra government was granted permission by the Supreme Court on Thursday to hold bullock cart races in the state in compliance with the regulations and revisions to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act that it had made. The ruling was issued by a high court panel led by Justices AM Khanwilar and CT Ravikumar while hearing an interim motion in Maharashtra’s special leave case, which was filed in 2018 in response to the Bombay High Court’s stay order prohibiting the state from holding bullock cart races.
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The Maharashtra government said the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the state’s prohibition on bullock-cart races should be repealed because similar races are held in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The state administration had persuaded a panel of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar that bullock-cart races should be permitted in compliance with the 2017 Rules. The Bombay High Court has suspended the execution of the Rules under which the state sought to host a bullock-cart race under tight conditions, according to senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who was representing Maharashtra.
“The prohibition should be lifted, and we should be permitted to hold races in conformity with the Rules of 2017,” he said the court, which was hearing Maharashtra’s motion in the case. He stated that the Supreme Court might request the monitoring of the collector in question, who will be held accountable. The bench remarked, “The regulations itself provide for such.” Rohatgi stated that the bench can give a word of warning and that the state will take all necessary precautions. He alluded to a previous Supreme Court judgement that had directed the ‘Jallikattu’ petitions to a five-judge Constitution bench, which would examine if the bull-taming sport fell within cultural rights or perpetuated animal cruelty.
“Since it was submitted to a constitution bench three years ago, all of the neighbouring states have been enjoying this bullock cart race. Despite the fact that it is in a similar position, our state is unable to do so “According to Rohatgi. He believes the high court’s interim decision should be amended and the state should be allowed to hold the bullock-cart race. Several petitions challenging other states’ laws that are identical to Maharashtra’s are pending before the Supreme Court, according to the senior counsel, and there is no stay on them. Maharashtra has petitioned the Supreme Court to allow a bullock-cart race to take place.
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The bullock-cart race was outlawed in Maharashtra because it was inhumane to the animals, according to one of the lawyers who appeared before the Supreme Court. The Maharashtra administration has stated that bullock-cart races are prohibited in the state since the Bombay High Court declined to suspend the ban in an interim judgement in 2017, and there is no stay on the pertinent Acts of the other two states. Jallikattu, also known as ‘eruthazhuvuthal,’ is a bull-taming sport popular during the Pongal harvest festival in Tamil Nadu.
