New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the Centre's notification lifting ban on controversial bull taming sport Jallikattu during the festival of Pongal in Tamil Nadu.

"As an interim measure, we direct that there shall be stay of notification dated January 7, 2016 issued by Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF)," a bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and N V Ramana said. The bench also issued notice to the MoEF and Tamil Nadu on petitions filed by various bodies including Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) seeking striking down of the Centre's notification and sought their replies within four weeks.