Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- India's Supreme Court allowed a bull- taming event held during the harvest festival in Tamil Nadu state to go ahead after banning it last week as ``barbaric.''
A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice J.M. Panchal yesterday permitted the event, known locally as ``Jallikattu,'' in about 400 villages around Madurai under the supervision of the district administration.
The authorities will take all precautions to ensure ``that the animals are not tortured,'' the court said after reviewing the earlier order pronounced by a two-judge bench. ``There would be no cruelty'' to the animals and they shouldn't be injured, the court instructed.
The move comes after the southern state of Tamil Nadu sought the removal of the ban on the grounds that the restriction hurt religious sentiments. The event was meant as an offering to the village deities, the Tamil Nadu government's advocate Gopal Subramanium told the court.
``There is a belief that if the bull fight is not organized, there won't be a good harvest next year,'' Subramanium said.
The event involved temple bulls with coins tied to their horns as a symbol of wealth, he said. Competitors would seek to snatch these coins to keep them as a symbol of prosperity, Subramanium said. There would be no threat to public safety during the event, the state government's advocate said.
The lifting of the ban was opposed by the Animal Welfare Board, represented by advocate K.K. Venugopal.
`Cruelty to Animals'
``It is extremely unfortunate that the state government has been pleading for a sport which perpetuates cruelty to animals,'' Venugopal said in court. The event is not possible without cruelty to animals, he said. ``If there is no torture, bulls would not run amok.''
Cruelty to animals is a criminal offence under the Prevention of Cruelty Act, 1960, Venugopal said.
The court asked the district authorities to strictly follow the 12-point guideline submitted by the Tamil Nadu state authorities and also said that the district Animal Welfare Board will be allowed to record the event.
The court ordered that the event be recorded in all 400 villages, so that a report could be filed by the administration to the court after the festival was over.
The court observed that the cow and the bull were revered as sacred animals in the country.
To contact the reporter on this story: P.S. Patnaik in New Delhi at indianews@bloomberg.net .