November 27, 2010 – 6:36 am
http://truthdive.com/2010/11/27/supreme-court-allows-jallikattu.html
Chennai, Nov 27 (TruthDive): In accordance with the law enacted on the regulation of event, the Supreme Court permitted the Tamil Nadu government to allow ‘jallikattu’ for five months in a year from January 15 .
A Bench comprised of Justice Mr. R.V. Raveendran and Justice Mr.A.K. Patnaik made it clear in their order that the animals participating in the event were to be categorized as per the provisions of the Act.
The Bench also directed the District Collectors to make sure that the animals that will be participating in Jallikattu should be registered to the Animal Welfare Board and in return the Board would send its representative to monitor over the event.
The Act states that no ‘jallikattu’ would be permitted or will be carried out without the permission of the collector and such permission should be obtained one month in prior to the event and the location should also be informed to the board before hand.
Considering the report submitted to the board, which stated the statistics of 12 deaths and 1,614 injuries at the event, the Bench directed the collectors to segregate the events into smaller and larger ones and also added that large amount should be deposited when the events were set large. The Bench considers the board’s suggestion for framing the rules.
The State also responded stating that ‘Jallikattu’ is an ancient, religious and sentimental cultural game that had been conducted for more than 400 years in rural areas during Pongal in January and also for few church festivals from January to December. However, as per the law directs, the event was restricted to five months between January and May.
The State added that at present two lakhs be deposited by the organizers for the benefit of the victims which also includes the victim’s family, in case of an accident or injury during the event.
The government said that a team of veterinarians would be present at the venue for testing and certifying the bulls for participation in the event to provide treatment for bulls that gets injured.
