AP to HC: Won’t allow cockfights

The AP government on Thursday assured the Hyderabad High Court that it will not allow cockfights during Sankranti.

AP Advocate-General Dammalapati Srinivas told a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice G. Shyam Prasad that show cause notices were issued to 42 tahsildars and 49 station house officerss for failing to implement the court order granted in December 2016, disallowing cockfights during Sankranti. Last year, `9.23 lakh was seized from punters, he said.

The bench was dealing with a PIL by Mr Kalidindi Ramchandra Raju from West Godavari district challenging the inaction of the officials in curbing the unauthorised gaming, illegal sale of liquor and prostitution during the festival at Vempa and Srirampuram villages of the district.

Reacting to the A-G’s submission, the bench said it was an open fact that hundreds of crores of rupees exchange hands during the Sankranti cockfights. “It is a wonder you people seized just `9 lakh. This itself shows how serious you are,” the bench said.

The bench asked the A-G whether any action was initiated against tahsildars and sub-inspectors who were found to have failed to implement the court order.

When the A-G said he would file an additional affidavit, the bench said it would implead all the tahsildars and sub-inspectors in the case pending before it.

Justice Ranganathan said, “Cockfights which started in West Godavari district have expanding to the neighbouring East Godavari, Krishna and then Guntur and has now gone up to Visakhapatnam. We know hundreds of people even from Tirupati have been going to the Godavari district to participate in cockfights. It is surprising to know that organisers are arranging buses for the people to come and bet in cockfights.”

The bench said this time the court would test the dedication of the authorities in stopping the cockfights. It adjourned the case to January 29 after directing the state government to file an action taken report.