Upendra Baxi

In an astonishing decision, the Court held that bulls can be regarded as “performing animals” and upheld the concept of ownership of an animal and an individual’s right to employ it in sports.

This week’s cover story is part of our continuing reportage on a subject that is perhaps the most explosive constitutional showdown since the Founding Fathers, in 1950, framed the principles, laws, rules and regulations within whose framework the institutions of the newly-founded Indian Republic are designed and meant to function.