Will withdraw 2016 Jallikattu notification, Centre tells SC

New Delhi, January 24

The central government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it would withdraw a 2016 notification that lifted a ban on Jallikattu.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that the central government's decision was prompted by Tamil Nadu’s new law that amends the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act that made Jallikattu  — a rural bull-taming sport — an exception.   

The court said an appropriate Bench would take a decision when the central government’s application came up for consideration.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously adopted The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment), Act, 2017 — a legislation that Chief Minister O Panneerselvam piloted — on Monday as protests against the ban entered its sixth day.

The protests took a violent turn on Monday.

The Bill would now be sent for approval to the President.  

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The central government’s January 6, 2016, notification lifts a ban on Jailikattu, more than a year after the Supreme Court ruled that the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act was unconstitutional and banned using bulls as performing animals.

(Also read: Kamal Haasan shocked over police action on jallikattu protesters)

Several animal rights organisations, including Animal Welfare Board of India, contested the notification in court. — PTI