The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a petition to suspend a new law allowing jallikattu but criticised the Tamil Nadu government for introducing the Bill on the controversial bull-taming sport, ANI reported. It also reprimanded the state for not following law-and-order procedures during the protests in the state. The apex court issued a notice to the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government, asking it to explain why it had introduced the legislation on the matter within six weeks.
The court, however, has agreed to hear petitions against the law that allows for the sport to be conducted across the state. The top court slammed the state government for allowing people to defy its 2014 ban on the sport. “Tell your government that law and order is primacy in civilised society and we can’t tolerate such incidents,” the court told the state government’s lawyer.
The Supreme Court said, “We are governed by the rule of law. These kind of things should not happen. You must convey this to your executive,” NDTV reported. The state’s representative defended its actions and said the protests were peaceful.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam announced that a former high court judge will lead an investigation into alleged instances of violence and excessive use of police force during the jallikattu protests.
Chennai’s Marina Beach was a centre for the agitation demanding the withdrawal of the ban on the bull-taming sport. Bowing to public pressure, the central and state governments had passed a Bill on January 23, revoking the ban on holding jallikattu.
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