Who, Why and When Was the PIL Filed Against Anant Ambani’s Vantara?

In August 2025, two PILs were filed in the Supreme Court against Vantara, the wildlife rescue and rehab centre in Jamnagar, Gujarat set up by Anant Ambani. The first PIL was filed by advocate C.R. Jaya Sukin on August 6, then just few days later on August 9 another PIL was filed by Dev Sharma. Both the petitions were about how the place was being run and asking court to check it properly.

Why was the PIL filed?

The petitions made a lot of allegations against Vantara. They said animals were brought illegally from India as well as outside. Rules under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 were broken and even CITES rules were not followed. They also claimed that endangered species were smuggled into Vantara. Another part was about treatment of animals. They claimed that the animals were mistreated, Vantara did not have proper clearances and that it was being run for commercial reasons not conservation. Financial charges were also made there were allegations of money laundering and misuse of resources. The PIL also said that agencies like the Central Zoo Authority, CITES Authority and even the courts were not doing their job properly.

Actually, the fire started after an elephant case. A 36 year old elephant named Mahadevi, also called Madhuri was moved in July 2025 from a Jain Math temple in Kolhapur to Vantara. She was very unwell suffering with some health issues due to which the Bombay High Court ordered her transfer to Vantara on July 16 and the Supreme Court upheld it on July 28. But in Kolhapur, people protested in big numbers, they wanted elephant back. This incident gave push to these PILs.

What did the court do?

The Supreme Court first said that the PILs were only allegations based on general media reports and rumours, they did not have solid evidence. But because the charges were serious SC ordered an independent investigation. On August 25 the Supreme Court made a four member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into all the allegations. The SIT included Justice Jasti Chelameswar, former SC judge as chairperson, Justice Raghavendra Chauhan former Chief Justice of Uttarakhand & Telangana High Courts, Hemant Nagrale, former Mumbai Police Commissioner and Anish Gupta, IRS officer.

The SIT worked in September. They visited Vantara, checked records, spoke to many agencies like CBI, ED, Customs, Wildlife Crime Bureau and gave chance to complainants to present evidence though some even did not cooperate. They also studied documents, financial records, permits and animal details.

What did SIT find?

On Sept 12, the SIT gave sealed report to the court. Then on September 15, 2025, the Supreme Court gave its final order. The key findings of the SIT were: that No law was broken. There was no violation of Wildlife Act, Zoo Rules, Customs Act, FEMA, PMLA or CITES. All animal transfers had proper permits. Facilities at Vantara were even better than required, even animal mortality was normal compared to global zoos. Also, no evidence of money laundering or misuse of funds was found. So, the Supreme Court gave Vantara a complete clean chit.

Final Order

The Supreme Court closed both petitions and gave full clean chit to Vantara. The Court’s decision not only cleared Vantara but also gave it protection for the future. SC said no further cases on the same allegations will be taken in any court or authority. Vantara can also take action on people spreading wrong information or defame them.