Centre to withdraw Jallikattu notification from SC

The Central government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it would withdraw its 2016 notification allowing bull taming sport Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu in view of the fresh legislation, passed by the state assembly, on the issue.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi’s statement for the Centre was spurred by a mentioning made by a lawyer as soon as a three-judge Special Bench sat for a scheduled hearing in the BCCI-Lodha Committee spat case.

Justice Dipak Misra, who heads both the Jallikattu Bench and the Special Bench in the BCCI case, told Rohatgi that such an application of the government, if filed, would be considered by the Jallikattu Bench in due course.

The notification by the NDA government had removed bulls from the list of animals which cannot be used as performing animals.

The court, which was hearing an appeal against the 2016 notification, had reserved its verdict on its legal validity. The court had also put a freeze on the notification, disallowing Jallikattu again.

Earlier, the Centre requested the SC to postpone its judgment as it would vitiate an already emotionally-charged atmosphere in Tamil Nadu.

The O Panneerselvam-led government swiftly moved to promulgate an ordinance allowing Jallikattu in the state