Hearing a PIL filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, a division bench of the High Court passed an order on Tuesday putting a halt to all Kambala celebrations in the state, reported Suvarna News.
Kambala is a popular sport in which buffaloes are raced on fields with standing water. The sport is very popular in the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
The division bench comprising of Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice K Somashekar said that the state authorities should take all measures to ensure that no Kambala races take place in the state. The races are scheduled to start from November 26 and go on till March. The bench said that the sport amounted to severe animal cruelty.
The sport had faced an uncertain future after the Supreme Court banned Jallikattu (taming the bull) in Tamil Nadu in 2014.
Following this, district administrations in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi imposed a ban on the event. However, the High Court lifted the ban on Kambala provided a police sub-inspector and the local tahsildar were present at the Kambala race and the event was videotaped.
However, the High Court has now put a halt to the sport.