NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Theme : Government policies and interventions for development of various sectors and issues arising out of them etc.
Paper:GS-1 and GS-2
The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India will deliver its verdict on the validity of Tamil Nadu’s law permitting the practice of Jallikattu in the State soon
TABLE OF CONTENT
- Context
- Jallikattu
- Constitution of India and Animal Welfare
- Important Judgments
- State Government Stand & Arguments Against it.
- Judicial review of legislation can be made on two grounds
- Road Ahead
Context : The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India will deliver its verdict on the validity of Tamil Nadu’s law permitting the practice of Jallikattu in the State soon.
Jallikattu :
- The term ‘jallikattu,' comes from Tamil terms ‘salli kaasu' which means coins, and Kattu which means package tied to the horns of bulls as prize money
- It is usually held during the Pongal season.
- It is a sport where men compete against each other to hold on to the humps of agitated bulls that are released into an open arena.
- Historical linkages: Jallikattu is a dated tradition. An ancient reference to bull taming is found in a seal discovered at Mohenjo Daro, which is dated between 2,500 BC and 1,800 BC. The sport was called Eruthazuval or “embracing the bull”.
Constitution of India and Animal Welfare :
- Fundamental rights: They are explicitly conferred on animals.
- Article 14 (right to equality) and Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty): They are bestowed on persons.Persons means human beings or associations of human beings, such as corporations, partnerships, trusts etc
- Article 48: To prohibit the slaughter of cows, calves and other milch and draught cattle and to improve their breed.
- Article 48A: To protect and improve the environment and to safeguard forests and wildlife.
- Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA Act), 1960: It criminalizes several types of actions that cause cruelty to animals.It exempts use of animals for experiments with a view to securing medical advancement.
Important Judgments :
- Nagaraja case: Court said, Jallikattu falls within the boundaries of the actions forbidden by the PCA Act.
- Tamil Nadu amended the PCA Act in 2017: It specifically excluded Jallikattu from the confines of the statute’s various protections.It secured the President’s authority for the law.
State Government Stand & Arguments Against it :
State Government Stand :
- Jallikattu is both a religious and cultural event celebrated by the people of Tamil Nadu and its influence extends beyond the confines of caste and creed.
- The Tamil Nadu government, in its affidavit, had described Jalikattu as a “practice which is centuries-old and symbolic of a community’s identity
- It will be viewed as hostile to culture and against the sensitivities of the community. The people of Tamil Nadu have a right to preserve their traditions and culture”.
- Jallikattu does not violate the principles of compassion and humanism.The traditional and cultural significance of Jallikattu and its intertwining with the sociocultural milieu is taught in the high school curriculum so that the significance is maintained beyond generations.
Arguments Against it :
- The practice of Jallikattu has long been contested, with animal rights groups and the courts concerned over issues of cruelty to animals and the bloody and dangerous nature of the sport that causes death and injuries to both the bulls and human participants.
- Bull-taming sport "jallikattu" leads to injuries and even fatalities of animals as well as humans and something that involves cruelty cannot be allowed.
- Perpetuating cruelty cannot be permitted and one cannot have a provision that is destructive of the purpose of legislation like the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Judicial review of legislation can be made on two grounds :
- Whether the legislature possesses the competence to enact the law
- Whether the law violates one or the other of the fundamental rights delineated in Part III of the Constitution.
Road Ahead :
- Right in Article 21 is conferred only on human beings: But the expanded meaning of the word “life” now included a right against disturbance to the basic environment ought to mean that animal life must also be treated with “intrinsic worth, honor and dignity.
- On any reasonable reading of the Constitution: It might be difficult to hold that animals are promised rights to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and equality under Article 14.
- Philosopher Martha Nussbaum: Our duty of care towards animals needs to hardly originate out of our similarities to them.We must instead see “each form of animal life in all its beauty and strangeness.”
- The approach that maintains a greater fidelity to our Constitution’s text and values, is to see it in the context of our own right to live in a world that treats animals with equal concern.
- Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan: No doubt constitution safeguards only the rights of human beings, but the word “life” is today understood to mean something more than mere existence; it means an existence that allows us, among other things, to live in a clean and healthy environment.
- Legislating to prevent animal cruelty is no longer an option, it transforms into a binding duty cast on the state.
FAQs :
-
What is Jallikattu?
ANS.
- The term ‘jallikattu,' comes from Tamil terms ‘salli kaasu' which means coins, and Kattu which means package tied to the horns of bulls as prize money
- It is usually held during the Pongal season.
- It is a sport where men compete against each other to hold on to the humps of agitated bulls that are released into an open arena.
-
What is the stand of the State Government?
ANS.
- Jallikattu is both a religious and cultural event celebrated by the people of Tamil Nadu and its influence extends beyond the confines of caste and creed.
- The Tamil Nadu government, in its affidavit, had described Jalikattu as a “practice which is centuries-old and symbolic of a community’s identity
- It will be viewed as hostile to culture and against the sensitivities of the community. The people of Tamil Nadu have a right to preserve their traditions and culture”.
- Jallikattu does not violate the principles of compassion and humanism.The traditional and cultural significance of Jallikattu and its intertwining with the sociocultural milieu is taught in the high school curriculum so that the significance is maintained beyond generations.