No blanket ban imposed on rooster fights in Tamil Nadu, DGP’s office tells Madras High Court

The office of Tamil Nadu’s Director General of Police/Head of Police Force (DGP/HoPF) on Monday (September 21, 2026) clarified to the Madras High Court that a circular issued by it on September 12, 2025 does not impose a blanket ban on rooster fights and it only intends to prevent gambling and cruelty to the birds during such fights.

In a report filed before Justice V. Lakshminarayanan, the DGP/HoPF’s office said, the intent of the year-old circular was to curb the practices of tying knives or blades around the necks of the fighter cocks, stitching their eyes and so on. The intent was certainly not to enforce an executive prohibition on any lawful activity.