Will now remove participation of bulls from Jallikattu to make it legal: BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary H. Raja on Thursday expressed happiness over the dismissal of a petition filed on Jallikattu by the Supreme Court and said now the government will remove the bull from the exhibition to make it legal.

"I am happy that the issue has been brought out the way of the court by the way of a dismissal. So now, the government is free to bring its legislation by which we will remove the bull from the exhibiting animal list to make it legal," H. Raja told ANI.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court dismissed the review petition filed by Tamil Nadu government to lift the ban on Jallikattu, saying "it finds no ground to allow the state to continue with the bull taming sport".

Last week, the top court had questioned the Centre for its notification to allow the use of bulls in events like Jallikattu, saying India cannot "import Roman gladiator type sport".

A division bench headed by Justices Dipak Misra and Rohinton Fali Nariman said that animals may not have rights, but humans cannot negate their obligations as enshrined under the Constitution.

The order was passed after hearing in detail the argument put forth by the state of Tamil Nadu, the Animal Welfare Board and other respective petitioners and respondents.

In May 2014, the Supreme Court banned the practice, citing animal welfare issues.

On January 8, 2016, the Government of India passed an order exempting Jallikattu from all performances where bulls cannot be used, effectively reversing the ban. However, on January 15, 2016, the Supreme Court upheld its ban on the event, leading to protests across Tamil Nadu.