Hyderabad High Court directs West Godavari district collector to bar cockfights

Hyderabad: Expressing displeasure at the apathy of authorities in preventing cockfighting, the Hyderabad High Court on Monday directed the West Godavari district collector to take steps not to allow the sport during the oncoming Sankranti season.

A division bench of Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar was dealing with a PIL by Narahari Jagadish Kumar of West Godavari seeking a direction to the authorities to take immediate steps to prevent cockfights with betting during the Sankranti festival from January 10 to Jan 16 in the district.

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N. Sridhar Reddy, counsel for the petitioner, submitted that cockfights are mostly organised by anti-social elements.