New Delhi: The Karnataka government on Friday informed the Supreme Court that both Houses of Karnataka legislature passed the Bill to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act making Kambala legal in Karnataka and is being sent to the President for his assent.
Karnataka’s counsel Devdutt Kamat made the submission before a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud hearing a writ petition filed by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), challenging the ordinance promulgated by the state to allow the conduct of the sport from November to March, 2018.
Mr Kamat said that the Bill was being sent to the President for his approval and the state needed time to communicate the decision. Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal for the Centre said the Home Ministry will process the bill and send it to the President and it could take two to three weeks.
Senior counsel Siddarth Luthra for PeTA, however, insisted on a stay on kambala, contending that the ordinance will operate pending assent from the President, who may or may not give his approval.
During the last hearing, the court had pulled up the state as to how it can commit a fraud on the Constitution by promulgating an ordinance to allow ‘kambala’ when the Bill passed by the Legislature was returned by the President for reconsideration.
Justice Chandrachud told Mr Luthra, “We should allow the President to take a call. We can decide the issue later.”
The state submitted that kambala is conducted in two districts of Karnataka for nearly 1,000 years and there is no cruelty in it. It said the state has issued detailed directions, which will be strictly enforced. It also questioned the bonafides of PeTA, a US-based organisation, wondering whether it could teach us how animals should be treated. The Bench posted the matter for further hearing on December 12.
