Article Title: Jallikattu at Chettipalayam, Coimbatore
03-05-2025
Polity & Governance Current Affairs Analysis
Context
• Jallikattu is a traditional sport that is popular in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
• The sport involves releasing a wild bull into a crowd of people, and the participants attempt to grab the bull's hump and ride it for as long as possible, or attempt to bring it under control.
• It is celebrated in the month of January, during the Tamil harvest festival, Pongal.
Jallikattu Issue
• The primary question involved was whether Jallikattu should be granted constitutional protection as a collective cultural right under Article 29 (1).
• Article 29 (1) is a fundamental right guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution to protect the educational and cultural rights of citizens.
• The court examined if the laws “perpetuate cruelty to animals” (or) were actually a means to ensure “the survival and well-being of the native breed of bulls”.
• The Supreme Court banned Jallikattu through a judgment in May 2014 in the Animal Welfare Board of India vs A. Nagaraja case on the grounds of cruelty to animals.
• In 2018, the Supreme Court referred the Jallikattu case to a Constitution Bench, where it is pending now.
• The bone of contention is the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act of 2017 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Conduct of Jallikattu) Rules of 2017 passed by the President, which had re-opened the gates for the conduct of the popular bull-taming sport in the name of culture and tradition despite a 2014 ban by the Supreme Court.
"UPSC-2026-PRELIMS COMBINED MAINS PROGRAMME" NEW BATCH STARTS WITH ORIENTATION ON MAY 12th,2025 
