PeTA moves SC against HC order allowing Kambala beyond coastal districts

Mangaluru: Following an investigation into Kambala events (Karnataka buffalo race), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals-India (PeTA-India) has filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging Karnataka high court's Nov 14 order permitting the races outside Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.PeTA-India said high court misinterpreted the law by holding that such events represented culture "statewide", thereby expanding a narrow exemption under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, and enabling the commercialisation of cruelty under the guise of tradition. It submitted fresh video and photographic evidence showing buffaloes being beaten with wooden sticks, yanked with nose ropes, collapsing, and bearing visible wounds at Kambala events held in late 2025 and early 2026. The organisation shared this material with chief minister Siddaramaiah, urging him to end such races in the state. An investigation report was also filed before the Supreme Court.The SLP stated that the PCA Act, as amended by Karnataka, provided only a limited and conditional exemption for Kambala and bull/bullock cart races when normally held as a part of tradition and culture, historically restricted to select coastal districts. Races held in non-traditional locations such as Bengaluru or Shivamogga, PeTA-India said, remained prohibited under the PCA Act and violated Supreme Court judgments in AWBI vs Union of India (2023) and A Nagaraja (2014). The earlier review petition filed in 2023 seeking a complete prohibition on Kambala and similar events remains pending.According to PeTA-India, video footage from recent events showed buffaloes being controlled through pain. It was observed that buffaloes, as prey animals, naturally avoid chaos, yet were pushed into loud, crowded, brightly lit environments where fear and distress were used for entertainment.The evidence submitted to both high court and Supreme Court included findings from the 2023 Bengaluru buffalo race, where coastal buffaloes were subjected to long-distance transport, whipping, and longer tracks. PeTA-India noted that the event was highly commercial and staged as an entertainment fair rather than a cultural practice. "India's tech hub, Bengaluru, must not be tainted with an archaic and outdated spectacle of grown men abusing vulnerable buffaloes for their amusement," said Vikram Chandravanshi, senior policy and legal adviser, PeTA India.