Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu, January 2017

What the government did

1. 19 Jan 2017

   NegotiationCentreShare

   Chief Minister Panneerselvam met Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi on 19 January.

   MoreLess · 5 sources

   The Prime Minister's Office said Modi observed that the matter was sub judice and that the Centre would be supportive of steps taken by the state government. On 20 January the Home, Law and Environment ministries vetted the state's draft ordinance and the Centre cleared it. Reports differ on whether it went to the President: PTI quoted a Home Ministry spokesman as saying it was sent without the need of referring it to the President, Millennium Post reported it was approved for the President's assent, and the state later said it had obtained the President's prior instructions under Article 213. The Attorney General told the Supreme Court the Centre was in talks with the state, and the Court agreed not to deliver its judgment for a week.

   Sources [7][2][21][17][15]

2. 21 Jan 2017

   ConcessionState government, Tamil NaduShare

   The Governor, C.

   MoreLess · 6 sources

   Vidyasagar Rao, promulgated the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 (Tamil Nadu Ordinance 1 of 2017), published in a Gazette Extraordinary on 21 January, amending the 1960 Act to permit jallikattu. Protesters at Marina rejected it as a temporary fix and continued the sit-in.

   Legal basis: Article 213 of the Constitution (as cited in the state government's statement, reported by Deccan Herald); Tamil Nadu Ordinance 1 of 2017

   Sources [10][17][15][3][6][13]

3. 23 Jan 2017

   OtherPolice, Tamil NaduShare

   Police eviction: early on 23 January police gave protesters on Marina Beach a copy of the ordinance and asked them to leave, then physically removed those who stayed.

   MoreLess · 4 sources

   Protesters told Scroll that they asked for time to consult lawyers and were refused. Roads to the beach were barricaded, and Hindustan Times reported that most protesters had been cleared by noon. Officials told Hindustan Times that some people seemed to have infiltrated the protests and urged others to stay, forcing the police to use force; WION reported that police said they needed to secure the beachfront before Republic Day.

   • at least 7,000 protesters on Marina Beach when police handed over the ordinance, said Hindustan Times [14]
   • as many as 5,000 protesters evicted from Marina Beach, said unattributed reports cited by WION [5]

   Sources [13][14][5][4]

4. 23 Jan 2017

   Lathi chargePolice, Tamil NaduShare

   Police used lathis during the eviction and in clashes that followed in Triplicane, Teynampet, Madurai and Coimbatore.

   MoreLess · 6 sources

   Accounts of the sequence differ: protesters told Scroll that police began hitting the crowd with lathis while they were still protesting at Marina, while IANS reported that protesters threw stones at police in Triplicane and police then retaliated with a baton charge. Vehicles outside the Ice House police station in Triplicane were set on fire. Who set the fires is contested. Protesters and residents of the Nadukuppam fishing colony alleged that police set fire to vehicles and the fish market; Assistant Commissioner S. Pandian denied this and showed a video of youths damaging property outside the station. Videos that purported to show police setting fire to autorickshaws circulated on social media.

   • at least 20 policemen injured in the violence, said police (as reported by Hindustan Times) [14]

   Sources [13][14][22][1][4][6]

5. 23 Jan 2017

   Tear gasPolice, Tamil NaduShare

   Police fired tear gas shells to disperse crowds on roads leading to Marina and elsewhere in Chennai and the state.

   MoreLess · 5 sources

   Sources [14][22][1][4][5]

6. 23 Jan 2017

   ConcessionState government, Tamil NaduShare

   The Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passed the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill, 2017, introduced by the Chief Minister, by a voice vote.

   MoreLess · 5 sources

   It replaced the ordinance and was deemed in force from 21 January 2017. The Tamil Nadu Government Gazette records the President's assent to the Act, Act No. 1 of 2017, on 31 January 2017; Deccan Chronicle had reported the assent on 30 January.

   Legal basis: Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017 (Tamil Nadu Act No. 1 of 2017)

   Court: A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held on 18 May 2023 that the Tamil Nadu Amendment Act was a valid law and not directly contrary to the 2014 Nagaraja judgment. [12]

   Sources [11][12][15][1][3]

7. 28 Jan 2017

   Section 144 / 163Police, Tamil NaduShare

   The Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai, S.

   MoreLess · 3 sources

   George, issued a prohibitory order covering the Marina, Ice House, Foreshore Estate, Triplicane and Anna Square police station areas until 12 February. It prohibited assemblies, processions, fasts, demonstrations, human chains and meetings; family visits to the beach were exempt. The Commissioner said anti-social elements and anti-nationals had infiltrated the agitation and that some were using social media to gather people at Marina again. The order was rescinded on 4 February 2017, and a regulatory order under Section 41 of the Chennai City Police Act then barred assemblies and demonstrations on the Marina stretch from Napier Bridge to the Lighthouse.

   Legal basis: Section 144 CrPC

   Sources [23][24][25]

8. 31 Jan 2017

   Commission of inquiryState government, Tamil NaduShare

   Chief Minister Panneerselvam announced in the Assembly a commission of inquiry under a retired High Court judge into the law and order problems after the protests, including whether the force used by police was appropriate.

   MoreLess · 4 sources

   It was asked to report in three months. Retired judge S. Rajeswaran headed the one-member commission. After repeated extensions it submitted its report to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami in January 2020. The Federal reported in January 2021 that the report had not been published.

   • 1,901 persons the commission inquired, said Secretariat sources (as reported by DT Next) [20]

   Sources [23][18][19][20]

Outcome

PTI reported that the Marina protest was called off on the evening of 23 January 2017 after the Bill passed; Global Voices reported that most protesters in Chennai decided to end it the next day. The Tamil Nadu Government Gazette records the President's assent to the Act on 31 January 2017, and the Supreme Court upheld the Act in May 2023.

Background

Who governed at the start of the protest. Each action above counts for the party in power where and when it happened.

Centre government

BJPNDA, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

State government

AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, O. Panneerselvam, Chief Minister

Places

Marina Beach Chennai, Alanganallur Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli

Cause

Lifting the ban on jallikattu under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act

Organisers

Largely leaderless; students and youth groups

Scale

Thousands along the Marina promenade for six days; parallel protests across Tamil Nadu

What they said

Words in quote marks were matched in the source. Everything else is a summary; open the source for the exact words. Each statement says whether the speaker's party was in power or in opposition at the time.

Sources

1. 1Jallikattu stir turns violent; Bill passedPTI via The Tribune, 24 Jan 2017T5 Secondary
2. 2Jallikattu: Centre agrees to ordinanceMillennium Post, 20 Jan 2017T5 SecondaryArchived 20 Jan 2021
3. 3Tamil Nadu jallikattu law gets President's nodDeccan Chronicle, 31 Jan 2017T5 SecondaryArchived 31 Jan 2017
4. 4Jallikattu protest turns violent after police evictionIANS via Millennium Post, 23 Jan 2017T5 SecondaryArchived 28 Jan 2022
5. 5India: Tamil Nadu assembly passes Jallikattu BillWION, 23 Jan 2017T5 SecondaryArchived 28 Jan 2017
6. 6The Jallikattu protests in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu are not merely about a bullfightGlobal Voices, Rezwan, 28 Jan 2017T5 SecondaryArchived 28 Jan 2017
7. 7PMO India on X: the Centre would be supportive of steps taken by the State Government (thread on the Chief Minister's call on the Prime Minister)X (Twitter), Prime Minister's Office (@PMOIndia), 19 Jan 2017T1 Record
8. 8O. Panneerselvam on X: thanks to Narendra Modi for support in enabling jallikattuX (Twitter), O. Panneerselvam (@CMOTamilNadu at the time, now @OfficeOfOPS), 21 Jan 2017T1 Record
9. 9Anbumani Ramadoss on X: salute to the democratic revolution by Tamil Nadu youthX (Twitter), Anbumani Ramadoss (@draramadoss), 23 Jan 2017T1 RecordArchived 12 Dec 2025
10. 10Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, Part I, No. 5 (1 February 2017): notice of Extraordinary issues for the week ending 21 January 2017, listing the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 (Ordinance No. 1 of 2017) issued on 21 January 2017Government of Tamil Nadu (copy hosted by tniuscbe.org), 1 Feb 2017T1 Record
11. 11Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary No. 20 (31 January 2017): Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017 (Act No. 1 of 2017)Government of Tamil Nadu (copy hosted by Supreme Court Observer), 31 Jan 2017T1 RecordArchived 5 Dec 2022
12. 12The Animal Welfare Board of India v. Union of India, W.P. (C) No. 23 of 2016 and batch, judgment of 18 May 2023Supreme Court of India (via Indian Kanoon), Justice Aniruddha Bose (for the Constitution Bench), 18 May 2023T2 CourtArchived 3 Mar 2024
13. 13As Chennai police try to evict jallikattu backers, fishermen accuse them of setting fire to propertyScroll.in, Vinita Govindarajan, 24 Jan 2017T4 ReportArchived 26 Jan 2017
14. 14Protest turns violent on Chennai’s Marina Beach; vehicles torched, petrol bombs lobbedHindustan Times, KV Lakshmana, 23 Jan 2017T4 ReportArchived 24 Jan 2017
15. 15Jallikattu: Tamil Nadu assembly passes bill to amend PCA ActThe Times of India, B Sivakumar, 23 Jan 2017T4 ReportArchived 24 Jan 2017
16. 16DMK slams police action on protestersPTI via Deccan Herald, 23 Jan 2017T5 Secondary
17. 17Ordinance okayed, TN to play Jallikattu todayDeccan Herald, 22 Jan 2017T5 Secondary
18. 18Commission to look into Marina violenceDeccan Chronicle, 1 Feb 2017T5 SecondaryArchived 1 Feb 2017
19. 19Jallikattu rages on but for booked protestors, life looks trampled downThe Federal, N Vinoth Kumar, 14 Jan 2021T4 ReportArchived 14 Jan 2021
20. 20Panel submits report on jallikattu violenceDT Next, 21 Jan 2020T5 Secondary
21. 21Jallikattu: Centre clears ordinancePTI via The Tribune, 21 Jan 2017T5 SecondaryArchived 13 Jul 2024
22. 22Was Chennai police hasty in dispersing protesters? Voices are dividedThe News Minute, Anna Isaac, 24 Jan 2017T4 ReportArchived 26 Jan 2017
23. 23P. Ayyakannu v. Government of Tamil Nadu, W.P. No. 8652 of 2018, order of 28 April 2018Madras High Court (via Indian Kanoon), Justice T. Raja, 28 Apr 2018T2 CourtArchived 22 Nov 2018
24. 24Chennai police revokes Section 144 in Marina beachThe News Minute, Pheba Mathew, 4 Feb 2017T4 ReportArchived 4 Feb 2017
25. 25Section 144 clamped on MarinaDT Next, 29 Jan 2017T5 Secondary

Similar precedents

Faded actions are ones this precedent does not share.