Jallikattu ordinance: PETA, AWBI keeping track of developments

CHENNAI: The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), on whose petitions the Supreme Court banned jallikattu, are keeping track of the developments on a jallikattu ordinance but are non-committal on whether they will oppose it or not.
On Friday afternoon, Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam assured the people in state that a jallikattu ordinance would be promulgated in a day or two and that he would inaugurate the bull-taming event.
Panneerselvam said a draft ordinance of the state government to lift the ban on jallikattu had been sent to the home ministry and hinted at getting the President's consent by Saturday. Panneerselvam met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and presented a memorandum to enable the conduct of jallikattu. Meanwhile, peaceful protests continued across the state, including a dawn-to-dusk bandh.
AWBI board member and head of their legal sub-committee Anjali Sharma told TOI that board members have to meet and pass a resolution to challenge the ordinance.
“The AWBI is an association of people. It is a statutory body. Whenever we take any action, like we did [last year], we challenged the government’s notification last year. [The central government’s notification which was issued in January 2016]. Before doing anything like that, a resolution has to be passed by all members. If any member proposes a resolution, then we will have to see how many people support it. Last year, there was overwhelming support for challenging the central government’s notification, the one they issued in January 2016. The AWBI challenged that,” she said.
“If an ordinance is coming, we will have to follow the same procedure. One member cannot decide. A resolution will be moved before the board members. Let us see how many board members support it,” she said.
To a query on whether the board members would meet on Saturday, she said, “I cannot say. Let’s see how it happens. All board members may not revert over the weekend. But it is always possible. If they do, we will move [the resolution].”
PETA said it was considering various legal options. "We are continuously taking advice from our legal council," Poorva Joshipura, CEO, PETA India, told TOI.