Can't Allow Individual Requests To Hold Jallikattu, State Already Conducting Festival: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has refused to entertain a request made by an organisation for conducting the Jallikattu festival at Avaniyapuram after noting that the State was already conducting it. The bench of Justice G Jayachandran and Justice KK Ramakrishnan noted that, considering the international importance of the Jallikattu festival, the state itself was organising it and thus Court could not entertain any independent request seeking permission to conduct the festival. “Considering the international importance of the Jallikattu conducted at Avaniapuram, Alanganallur and Palamedu, the State itself is directly organizing the events. Therefore, the petitioner cannot have any independent request to grant permission for his Committee to conduct Jallikattu at Avaniapuram Village,” the court observed. The court was hearing a petition by Murugan, President of the Avaniyapuram village Jallikattu committee. He had approached the court seeking permission and adequate police protection to conduct the Jallikattu festival at Avaniyapuram village on 15th January 2026. The authorities informed the court that, as per the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act 2009 and the Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Animal Welfare Department on November 21, 2025, the Jallikattu festival was being organised by the Revenue Officials of the State with the assistance of the villagers who were part of the Advisory committee. The petitioner submitted that the advisory committee must at least consist of collective representation of all the community in that village. To this, the authorities pointed out that the Advisory Committee would be constituted as per the practice in the previous years and considering the guidelines issued by the curt in previous petitions. Recording the submissions of the State, the court disposed the plea. It may be noted that in 2023, while directing the Madurai District Administration and the Municipal Corporation to jointly conduct the Jallikattu festival, a division bench of the high court had remarked that the festival should be conducted peacefully without bringing in religion and caste. Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. S. Meenakshi Sundaram Senior Counsel for Mr. M. Sangeetha Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Veera Kathiravan Additional Advocate General assisted by Mr. S. P. Maharajan Special Government Pleader, Mr. K. Gnanasekaran Government Advocate (Crl.side) Case Title: P Murugan v. The District Collector and Others Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 32 Case No: W.P.(MD)No.153 of 2026Click Here To Read/Download The Judgment

Can't Allow Individual Requests To Hold Jallikattu, State Already Conducting Festival: Madras High Court

Upasana Sajeev

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