New Delhi, Jan 12 (Agencies) : The Supreme Court turned down a plea seeking its intervention in passing a judgment on Jallikattu before Saturday, news agency ANI reported. Jallikattu is a bull-taming sport practiced during the Tamil festival of Pongal. The apex court said while the draft of the judgment has been prepared, it is not possible to deliver a verdict before Saturday when Pongal is set to be celebrated in Tamil Nadu. The apex court, which had first banned the sport in 2014 citing animal cruelty, had upheld the order last year when it dismissed the state government’s review petition.

The Supreme Court’s statement comes a day after the Centre said “things are ready” on its side, and that it will wait for the order of the court which it hoped will do justice so that people can celebrate festival as per tradition.

Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam had said the state government will ensure that the sport is held across rural areas in the state.

“Myself and the the Tamil Nadu government, who follow in the footsteps of Amma (Jayalalithaa), will ensure that Jallikattu is held. We will not back off even a bit. I would like to assure the people of Tamil Nadu that we will uphold the heritage and culture of the Tamils,” he said.

AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala also wrote a letter to PM Modi Wednesday, underlining that the ban on the sport had sparked resentment in the state.

Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, who met a delegation led by AIADMK leader M Thambidurai regarding the issue, also blamed the previous Congress-led UPA government for including bulls in the list (of animals prohibited from being exhibited or trained as performing animals). He added that bulls are not ill-treated during the performance and hoped the Supreme Court would look into all aspects of the case.