No Kambala in Bengaluru Until PETA India’s Objections Are Heard, Says High Court of Karnataka
In a petition filed by PETA India seeking the prohibition of buffalo bull races in Bengaluru and other areas, the Karnataka government and the Dakshina Kannada Samithi undertook that the event publicly reported to be conducted in Bengaluru on 26 October 2024 will not take place. A bench of the High Court of Karnataka consisting of the Hon’ble Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Hon’ble Justice KV Aravind ordered the state of Karnataka to inform PETA India in advance if requests for permits are received for any other kambala event in the city so that PETA India’s objections may be heard by the court before any such permission is granted.
PETA India’s plea for urgent consideration of the matter was prompted by media reports regarding kambala events planned between 26 October 2024 and 19 April 2025 at various locations across Karnataka, including non-coastal areas such as Bengaluru and Shivamogga, where these events have not traditionally been held. The legality of conducting a kambala event in Bengaluru and other places where it has not traditionally been held will be further considered by the court on 5 November.
To stop other kambala events, PETA India has released its latest hard-hitting investigative footage of kambala cruelty. The disturbing footage, from the previous kambala event in Bengaluru and other recent events, shows handlers hitting buffalo bulls and using weapons against them and the animals crashing and collapsing.
As prey animals, buffaloes are innately nervous, so men who use them for races deliberately incite them to run by bullying them – causing them pain, panic, and fear. Investigations conducted by PETA India into the previous event held in Bengaluru, on 25 and 26 November 2023, revealed the same kind of severe abuse of these animals as has been documented at other events: buffaloes were tethered without food or water, beaten with sticks, and forcibly restrained with painful nose ropes. They were shouted at, slapped, and roughly handled at the starting point, often showing signs of fear and distress. Unique to Bengaluru, the exhausted buffaloes were forced to race on a longer 155-metre track, leading to severe physiological stress, as evidenced by heavy salivation, frothing at the mouth, and laboured breathing. These findings were documented in a report shared with the state government in January 2024.
In 2014, the Supreme Court passed a detailed and well-reasoned judgement in Animal Welfare Board of India vs A Nagaraja & Ors that holding kambala and other bull performances would violate the rights guaranteed to animals under the Constitution of India and The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. However, after this judgement was passed, beginning in 2017, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra amended animal protection laws for their states to allow jallikattu, kambala, and bullock cart races, respectively. On 18 May 2023, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court also enabled these events to continue in these states.
Most recently, the Supreme Court agreed to consider an e-mail petition filed by PETA India and other animal rights entities requesting that petitions from these groups and those of others seeking a reversal of the 18 May 2023 judgement be urgently reviewed.
PETA India has long campaigned against the use of bulls in performances.
