ORDER :

N.KIRUBAKARAN, J.

There will be parading of hundreds of pairs of bulls with balloons adorning colourfully painted horns in Mandaiveli during 'Mattu Pongal Festival' and greeted joyfully by the villagers throwing turmeric water/water on the bulls and the owners by the youngsters, preceded by a group of drummers beating their drums.

2. It is a wonderful occasion to be seen and rejoiced. This festival is being celebrated for centuries together in Tamil Nadu as a mark of respect to the bullocks which are helping the agriculturists for making cultivation. It is a sort of thanks giving function to the co-worker viz., bullocks, which are used for ploughing and transportation purposes.

3. One cannot be well off without pairs of bullocks, cows, poultry and other cattle in villages. These are all the things of the past. All of a sudden, bullocks started disappearing from villages and the village itself has lost its originality. That is the real rural position as on date. Though hundreds of pairs of bullocks would march, about 20 years ago, in almost every village, sadly as on date, only 1 or 2 or a few pairs of bullocks come to Mandaiveli during Pongal festival. It is due to various factors. Most of the farmers are giving up cultivation and migrating to urban areas as cultivation is not economical and productive. The farmers have started using modern equipments like tractors and the necessity of having bullocks has considerably come down. During Pongal festival, in some of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 'Sallikattu' which is now called as 'Jallikattu' used to be conducted during January to May on various occasions, especially during Pongal. 'Alanganallur' and 'Palamedu' are globally known for those events. The Bulls/Oxes are specially groomed for taking part in "Jallikattu". The Bulls are let into ground through 'Vadivassal' (the gate) and the youths would pounce upon them and try to hold the well grown hump of the bulls/Oxen. If a tamer is able to hold the hump for 15 seconds and run alongwith the bull for 30 seconds or sustain three jumps of the bull, he will be declared as a winner, otherwise the winner would be the bull. All bulls used are native breeds as the native breed alone have well grown hump.

4. The Petitioner also filed Writ Petitions to secure the release of wild Elephants from the captivity and for treatment of dogs kept in Breeding Centre and against felling of trees in IIT Campus, Chennai to conserve wild life and ecology.

5. It is the case of the petitioner that 'Jallikattu' is a sport played in Tamil Nadu, since Sangam era. It involves releasing a bull (native breed - Bos Indicus) from 'vaadivasal' and the challenge is that an athlete should cling/embrace on to the bull for a minimum time or distance and if the bull wards off the man, the former wins and if the man succeeds in clinging/embracing on to the bull, the man wins the contest. The man has to tie his arms around the hump on its back, which is the characteristic of native breeds. All native breed bulls (Bos Indicus) have large humps on their backs in straight alignment with their front legs.

6. s per the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Animal Welfare Board of India Vs. A.Nagaraja and others reported in (2014) 7 SCC 547, 'Jallikattu' was declared as illegal and in violation of Sections 3, 11(1)(a) and 11(1)(m)(ii) of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the Hon'ble Supreme Court prohibited the conduct of 'Jallikattu'. There was a widespread public resentment against the ban and based on the popular sentiments and groundswell of public opinion in favour of restoration and revival of 'Jallikattu' in Tamil Nadu and also for survival of native breeds of cattle of Tamil Nadu viz., “Pulikulam”, “Umbalachery”, “Nattumadu”, “Malaimadu” and “Kangeyam”, the Government of Tamil Nadu promulgated an ordinance amending the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and later enacted a legislation in the State Legislature. The s