State corrigendum rejected, no bullock-cart race in Maharashtra

In a major relief to bullocks forced to race by their innumerable owners, who take pride in exhibiting or selling them after subjecting them to much torture, the Bombay High Court on Monday quashed a government corrigendum allowing non-castrated bulls to participate in bullock-cart races in the state.

While proposing the state to raising the “minuscule” fine amount being imposed on the violators, the division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice RV More hearing a petition filed by Gargi Gogoi, a Kandivli-based animal lover, completely banned bull races — a major attraction in rural Maharashtra around the year, especially during festivals.

Gogoi’s plea states that as per a Government of India notification dated July 11 2011, there is ban on the exhibition of bears, monkeys, tigers, leopards and lions. Accordingly, the state was considering a ban on bullock-cart races and indeed did so with immediate effect from August 24, 2011. However, a month later, it issued a corrigendum making the distinction between bulls, thus allowing the races to continue.

Apart from praying that the corrigendum issued by the state be quashed and set aside, Gogoi’s plea sought a directive for district collectors and the police to stop bullock-cart races and take punitive action against those holding the races.

Arguing before the court, Gogoi’s advocate GW Mattos said, “Provisions under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act lays down provisions to deal with any kind of cruelty imposed on animals, including bulls, and action can be taken against the offender under the Act.”

The court, however, was of the opinion that the “state government or its officers could not have distinguished between castrated or non-castrated bulls and permitted races, as the central government had not made the distinction to start with. Thus the corrigendum needs to be quashed and set aside.”