The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea challenging the Madras High Court order for conducting Jallikattu in various districts of Tamil Nadu, under supervision of monitoring committees headed by a retired district judge.
A Bench of Chief Justice L Nageswara Rao asked the petitioner to approach the Chennai Bench of Madras High Court and dismissed the petition after which the petitioner withdrew the plea. The plea was filed by a farmer AK Kannan.
The petitioner demanded that Jallikattu must be conducted under the supervision of the district collector.
The Madurai Bench of the High Court had ordered the constitution of a committee headed by a retired district judge and comprising district collector, commissioner of police and Madurai Corporation commissioner to conduct Avaniyapuram Jallikattu on January 15.
Jallikattu is organised in rural areas of Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal, the harvest festival.
The Supreme Court (SC) in 2014 banned 'Jallikattu' after a plea was filed by the Animal Welfare Board of India and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) but the state government insisted that Jallikattu was a crucial part of its culture and identity.
The ban was later lifted in January 2017 with an amendment to the law after massive protests in Chennai.
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