Jallikattu, Kambala declared legal

Jallikattu, Kambala declared legal
 

News: A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the amendments made by the legislatures of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka to The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, allowing bull-taming sports like jallikattu, kambala, and bullock-cart races.
 

What is Jallikattu?
 Jallikattu, also known as eruthazhuvuthal, is a bull-taming sport traditionally played in Tamil Nadu as part of the Pongal harvest festival.
 The festival is a celebration of nature, and thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest, of which cattleworship is part.
 It also finds mention in Silappadikaram, one of the great Tamil epics from the Sangam age.
 

Significance:
 Sport cultivates and represents a cordial man-animal relationship, wherein the owner strives to develop an “emotional connect” with the bull through the long process of rearing.
 

Verdict of the Supreme Court:
 It overruled its 2014 ruling in ‘Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja’ and held that Jallikattu has a strong cultural component.
 The amendments (to the PCA) were “valid legislations”, as these are not a piece of colourable legislation and that it relates to List III of the 7th Schedule to the Constitution [prevention of cruelty to animals].
 The court also said that the 2017 amendment does not violate – Articles 51-A (g) and 51-A (h), which impose duties on Indian citizens to protect the environment and develop a scientific temper, humanism, spirit of inquiry, and reform, respectively and Articles 14 (Right to Equality) and 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution.
 However, the Jallikattu issue is “debatable” and must ultimately be decided by the Parliament, as the issue requires social and cultural analysis in greater detail.