New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the affairs of the Vantara (Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre) reports Live Law in.
The centre is run by the Reliance Foundation at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
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The SIT will inquire among others, “the compliance with the provisions of the Wildlfie Protection Act and other relevant statutes in the acquisition of animals from India and abroad, particularly elephants.”
The Apex Court’s decision comes in the wake of multiple petitions and complaints pertaining to alleged violations of environmental, wildlife and financial regulations.
The SIT will include Justice Raghavendra Chauhan, former Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand and Telangana High Courts, Hemant Nagrale, IPS, former Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Anish Gupta, IRS, Additional Commissioner, Customs, adds India Today.
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The SIT will get information from sources such as petitioners, regulators, officials, intervenors and journalists.
The team does have the luxury of expanding its probe as and when it considers necessary to gather complete and authentic factual report.
The SIT has been assured of full support from the Central Zoo Authority, the CITES Management Authority, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Gujarat government – its Forest and Police Departments.
The Vantara centre has been embroiled in a major controversy.
It has faced allegations of fueling illegal wildlife trade.
According to a report by German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) with a Venezuelan investigative media outlet on March 13, the total number of animals at Vantara were more than 39,000.
The report accused authorities of transferring most of these animals in 2024.
Vantara however refuted such allegations calling the report baseless and misleading, according to The Wire.
Vantara is a brainchild of Anant Ambani, son of Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited, Mukesh Ambani.
Set up in in 2019, the complex spans across 277 hectares.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it on March 3 this year on the World Wildlife Day.
As per its Annual Report 2023-24, it housed over 10,000 animals as on March 2024.