Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has urged Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to issue strict instructions to various departments to ensure that the "barbaric" practice of cockfighting is not organised in the state.
In a letter to Naidu, Gandhi, who is also an animal welfare activist, said that the Hyderabad High Court had upheld the statutory prohibition on cockfights.
On December 26, the High Court had directed the Andhra Pradesh government to take all possible measures to prevent cockfights during the Sankranti (Pongal) festival.
"An effective curb on this retrograde killing and betting game will not be possible without your (Naidu's) active and personal intervention.
"May I request you to please issue strict instructions to the various departments to ensure compliance with the court order and end this unnecessary and illegal practice," Gandhi wrote in the letter which was sent to PTI by Humane Society International-India, which has been fighting for a ban on cockfighting.
The letter said that animal fights are also prohibited under Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Acts 1960.
The judgement which relied upon the judgement of Supreme Court in ABWI Vs A Nagaraja has dealt with all the facts of the issue, said the Union Minister for Women & Child Development.
"The Court has observed that cockfight has no religious sanction, nor does it by way of tradition supersede public policy and the law of land. Thus no ambiguity remains in establishing that cockfights are cruel, barbaric and in complete violation of PCA Act 1960, the orders of the High Court at Hyderabad and Supreme Court," she wrote.
She said that Hyderabad High Court has directed for formation of inspection teams to prevent cockfights and for the district administration to provide necessary assistance to these teams.
A cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters (cocks) or more accurately gamecocks, held in a ring called a cockpit.
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