Gauhati High Court issues temporary ban on buffalo fights in Assam

GUWAHATI — Gauhati High Court has issued a ban on buffalo fighting across Assam after the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a petition in this regard.

In an order issued on Thursday, the High Court directed all district administrations in Assam to put a temporary ban on buffalo fights which are arranged as an essential Bihu-time custom across the state.

In addition, the Gauhati High Court ordered the Assam government to submit an action-taken report to the court regarding the issue. The court has ordered that the report be filed by February 6.

During the Bhogali Bihu celebrations in January, buffalo fights were arranged in Assam. After Tamil Nadu’s Jallikattu was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 2015, it was stopped in Assam. But in 2023, the Supreme Court maintained the laws that controlled Karnataka’s buffalo and jallikattu races.

The BJP-led Assam government formulated new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to allow the buffalo fight in the state following the apex Court judgment.

The petition filed by PETA claimed that several laws were broken while performing the ancient ritual.

It said: “As evidence, PETA India submitted investigations into these fights which reveal that terrified and severely injured buffaloes were forced to fight through beatings, and starved and intoxicated, they were made to fight over food.”