Amendment Acts regulating bovine sports do not infringe the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and are valid legislations that align with cultural heritage while addressing animal welfare under specific conditions.

JUDGEMENT

ANIRUDDHA BOSE, J. Leave granted in Special Leave Petition (C) No.3528 of 2018. 2. In the case of Animal Welfare Board of India -vs- A. Nagaraja and Others [(2014) 7 SCC 547], a Division Bench of this Court had essentially outlawed two common sports practised in the States of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra popularly referred to as ‘Jallikattu’ and ‘Bullock Cart Race’ respectively. These bovine sports were held to be contrary to the provisions of Sections 3 , 11(1)(a) and (m) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (“1960 Act”) which is a Statute enacted by the Parliament. The two Judge Bench had construed the said provisions in the Constitutional backdrop of Article 51-A (g) and (h) as also Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. This judgment was delivered on 7th May 2014. At that point of time, Jallikattu was regulated by a State Act in Tamil Nadu, being Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act, 2009. The Bench held that this State Act was repugnant to the provisions of the 1960 Act and was held to be void, having regard to the provisions of Article 254 (1) of the Constitution of India. On 7th January 2016, a notification was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (“MoEF&CC”) [bearing number GSR 13 (E)]. This notification was issued in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 22 of the 1960 Act and prohibited exhibition or training of bulls as performing animals. However, an exception was carved and it was specified in this notification that bulls might be continued to be trained as performing animals at events such as Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and Bullock Cart Races in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala and Gujarat in the manner by the customs of common community or practice traditionally under the customs or as part of culture in any part of the country. In the State of Karnataka, the race involved male buffaloes, known in that State as “Kambala”.

This exception, however, was made subject to certain conditions seeking to reduce the pain and suffering of bulls while being used in such sports. A batch of writ petitions i.e. W.P. (C) Nos. 23 of 2016, 24 of 2016, 25 of 2016, 26 of 2016, 27 of 2016, 88 of 2016, 1059 of 2017, 1011 of 2017, 1188 of 2017, 1193 of 2017, SLP(C) No.3528 of 2018 and SLP(C) Nos. 3526-3527 of 2018 were instituted before a Division Bench of this Court questioning legality of the said notification. The petitioners in those proceedings also sought compliance with the directions of this Court contained in the case of A. Nagaraja (supra). 3. The first of these writ petitions have been brought by Animal Welfare Board of India and others including one Anjali Sharma, but in course of hearing, the Animal Welfare Board changed its stance and sought to support the stand of the State and Union of India mainly on the ground that the 1960 Act and certain State Amendments which were enacted in the year 2017 were not repugnant and the Board had framed guidelines to prevent suffering of the bovine species during holding of the aforesaid events. We shall refer to the three State Amendment Acts later in this judgment. However, the second writ petitioner- Anjali Sharma, a practicing advocate of this Court and also a member of the Board prosecuted the aforesaid writ petition as a single writ petitioner.

4. In connection with W.P.(C) No.1188 of 2017, an Interlocutory Application (170346 of 2022) has been filed by one Vikramsinh Nivrutti Bhosale on the strength of his being an agriculturalist in Maharashtra. He has argued that the challenge to the Maharashtra Amendment Act, if sustained, could hamper lives of farmers still associated with Bullock Cart Race. It is also his argument that the Amendment Act of Maharashtra is also relatable to entry 15