Jallikattu ordinance gets govt nod, bull now in President's court

January 21, 2017

Chennai, Jan 21: The Centre has cleared the state government's jallikattu ordinance, setting the stage for an end to the protests that have rocked the state. The President is expected to give his nod after he returns from a foreign trip on Friday night.

jallipresi
On Friday, Madurai district collector K Veera Raghava Rao inspected the Alanganallur jallikattu site, in what is seen as prep work to hold the event.Rao said the administration was fully prepared to act as per government's instructions.

Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam said he would personally inaugurate the event. "Jallikattu will happen in the state for sure. I am happy to state that the `vaadivasal` (the gateway to the jallikattu venue) will let the roaring bulls run in line with the aspirations of students and youths," he told mediapersons at Chennai airport.

Jallikattu enthusiasts at Alanganallur said it would take one or two days to prepare for the event and said they knew what regulations would need to be followed to address cruelty concerns. Jallikattu enthusiasts at Alanganallur, where the main jallikattu event used to be held during Pongal festival, said it would take one or two days to prepare for the event and said they knew what regulations would need to be followed to address cruelty concerns.Protesters at Marina Beach in Chennai, however, are staying put saying they want a permanent solution. As the day wore on, people came with their families from all over Chennai and nearby , and the beach took on a festive look. A senior police officer said at any point of time there were around 1.5 lakh people at the beach and the total number of people who had come there must have been nearly 5 lakh.

Before leaving for Chennai on Friday, Panneerselvam said the state government had sent the draft ordinance to lift the ban on jallikattu to the Union home ministry . The Centre and Tamil Nadu government seem to have worked in close coordination with the attorney general successfully pleading in the Supreme Court that the final order on petitions regarding the ban be held back. He told the court the Centre and the state government were holding talks to find a solution. The AG said deferring the judgment would stop the situation from getting further complicated. The central clearance came within hours of a delegation of Tamil Nadu MPs meeting Union home minister Rajnath Singh and the environment minister Anil Madhav Dave. Dave promised them to work out a "permanent" solution to the jallikattu issue an indication that the ministry may later bring an amendment in existing central law removing bull from `performing animals' category.

At the Chennai airport, asked if he would inaugurate the event, the normally reticent Panneerselvam said, " As per your wish, it will happen," he told reporters at Chennai airport when he returned to the state capital in the afternoon. Asked whether the ordinance would be challenged in court, the chief minister said that everything was done based on a belief. "I do not see any scope for a ban now," he said.

The ordinance, which is expected to contain provisions prohibiting cruelty to animals and measures to ensure safety of spectators, was screened by the environment ministry too so that it can stand scrutiny in the courts. Some of the safeguards are keeping the bull within a radial distance of 15 meters, testing by authorities to ensure that animals are in good physical condition and are not administered any drugs or alcohol.The law may also lay down the penalty for inflicting pain on the bull. Sources in the Animal Welfare Board of India and PeTA said they will explore legal options after studying the ordinance.

AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala met and held discussions with Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam, after his return from New Delhi, and other senior party leaders on the jallikattu issue and `advised' them on conducting the bull-taming sport in the state. A party release said Panneerselvam briefed Sasikala about his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 22,2024

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday produced Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before the Rouse Avenue court and sought a 10-day custody in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. "Kejriwal was the kingpin of the scam," the ED reportedly told the court after the AAP chief was produced before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja around 2 pm amid tight security. 

ASG S V Raju was appearing for the agency, while Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi is representing Kejriwal. 

Raju in his argument said Kejriwal was "directly involved in formulation of the (liquor) policy... he was involved in handling of proceeds of crime as well in the Goa election campaign."

"The expert committee was constituted but it was a sham committee. The policy was made in such a manner that it would enable the taking of bribes and recoupment of people who gave the bribes," the ED counsel said. 

Kejriwal was produced in the trial court shortly after he withdrew from the Supreme Court his plea against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. Kejriwal's counsel said he would contest the remand proceedings before the trial court and then come back to the apex court with another petition.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 25,2024

surendrarahul.jpg

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will face Kerala BJP chief K Surendran in the high-profile Wayanand constituency this Lok Sabha election.

Wayanad, a Congress stronghold, has been with the party since 2009. Mr Gandhi won it in 2019 and retained his Lok Sabha membership, having lost his Amethi seat to Union Minister Smriti Irani.

His rival this time, Mr Surendran, has the significant task of challenging the Congress-Left binary in Kerala's political landscape. Both the Congress and the Left are in a national alliance though they remain rivals in this southern state.

Surendran has contested all three Lok Sabha elections since 2009 and also four Assembly elections. In 2021, he contested from Konni and Manjeshwar seats simultaneously. 

In 2019 general elections, Mr Surendran finished third in Pathanamthitta constituency behind the Congress and the Left. He had lost the 2016 assembly polls from Manjeswaram by merely 89 votes. He also contested a bypoll in 2019, but lost it as well.

He was appointed to head the BJP Kerala unit in 2020 and became the face of the protests against the entry of young women into Sabarimala years ago.

Mr Surendran, who is from Kozhikode, figured in the BJP's fifth candidates' list, which also named actor Kangana Ranaut and former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay.

Wayanad is the second Kerala seat to see a battle of titans after Thiruvananthapuram, where Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar will face the three-time Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

The BJP has also fielded former vice-chancellor of Sree Sankara Sanskrit University K S Radhakrishnan from Ernakulam and actor-turned-politician G Krishnakumar from Kollam. T N Sarasu, a former educator, will contest from Alathur in Palakkad.

The highlight of the BJP's fifth list was the electoral debut of actor Kangana Ranaut from Mandi in her homestate Himachal Pradesh. The list, which named 111 candidates in 17 states, also featured new joinees like industrialist Naveen Jindal and Mr Gangopadhyay.

Mr Gangopadhyay, who joined the BJP recently after taking voluntary retirement, is the first former judge to join electoral politics. He has been fielded from Tamluk in Bengal and will face Trinamool's Debangshu Bhattacharya, a youth leader who had penned the party's "Khela Hobe" song.

Varun Gandhi, a sitting MP from Pilibhit, has been dropped and his seat has gone to Jitin Prasada, who switched to the BJP from the Congress in run-up to the election. His mother Maneka Gandhi has been fielded from her current seat, Sultanpur.

Actor Arun Govil, who played Ram in popular TV series Ramayan, will contest from Meerut. Union ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey and General VK Singh too were part of the list.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 26,2024

telengana.jpg

Hyderabad: The K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi faces big questions as shocking allegations of state police officers tapping the phones of then Opposition leaders in Telangana, including current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, celebrities and businessmen come to the fore.

The surveillance, it is alleged, was also used to blackmail businessmen into contributing huge amounts to the BRS party fund.

The BRS is yet to respond to the allegations.

Three senior police officers have been arrested in this connection and a lookout notice issued against T Prabhakar Rao, former chief of the state intelligence bureau, who is reportedly in the US now.

Police have said two senior officers - Additional Superintendent of Police Bhujanga Rao and Additional Superintendent of Police Thirupathanna - have admitted to illegal surveillance and destruction of evidence.

According to reports, Ravi Paul, a technical consultant with the state intelligence bureau under the then BRS government, had allegedly helped import and set up phone-tapping equipment near the residence of Mr Reddy to listen in on his conversations.

The equipment, it is alleged, was imported from Israel using a software company as the front. No permission from the Centre - a must for such imports - was taken, it is learnt. With this setup, anything spoken within a range of 300 metres could be heard, reports say.

Ravi Paul, it is alleged, set up an office near Mr Reddy's residence and installed the device. Police are set to question him in this connection.

Lookout notices have also been issued for Sharvan Rao, who runs a Telugu TV channel I News, and Radha Kishan Rao, a police officer with the city task force.

The surveillance was not restricted to Opposition leaders. Top businessmen, including real estate dealers and jewellers, and celebrities were also under surveillance. In fact, the tapping of phone conversations led to the divorce of a celebrity couple, reports say.

To add to the BRS's troubles, Chief Minister Reddy has received a complaint from Sharan Chaudhary, a businessman and a BJP leader, alleging that senior police officers kidnapped him last year and forced him to sign off a plot of land to a relative of former minister and BRS leader Errabelli Dayakar Rao.

Mr Chaudhury has alleged that Radha Kishan Rao and senior police officer ACP Umamaheswara Rao kidnapped him on August 21 while he was on his way to office. He has alleged that he was illegally detained and forced to register his property in the name of Vijay, a close relative of the minister. He was also forced to pay ₹ 50 lakh before they let him go.

The businessman has said he had approached the High Court after the incident, but Uma Maheshwar Rao threatened to file false cases against him and forced him to withdraw the petition.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.