PETA moves SC over elephant Madhuri's rehabilitation at Vantara
New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) PETA India has moved the Supreme Court seeking "urgent intervention" to restore elephant Madhuri's rehabilitation at Vantara in Jamnagar, alleging that her return to a Kolhapur mutt has left her "shackled and alone" again.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India on Wednesday said Madhuri was returned to the Nandani Mutt in Kolhapur on September 11-12 and "forced to endure a barrage of fireworks, screaming crowds and blaring horns" immediately upon reaching Kolhapur.
The organisation said Madhuri "shockingly arrived shackled and hobbled, like a prisoner".
"Madhuri has gone from living restraint-free with an elephant best friend, Shanti, to being shackled and alone again at a shed experts deemed unsuitable for her long-term care," PETA India vice president of policy Khushboo Gupta said.
"PETA India calls for the restoration of Madhuri's rehabilitation at Vantara so that she may resume the specialised care, freedom and the company of other elephants she desperately needs for her physical and mental wellbeing," Gupta said.
PETA India's application notes that after living 33 years in solitary confinement and chains at the mutt, Madhuri finally had the opportunity to form social bonds with other rescued elephants, walk free from chains and receive appropriate treatment for her pain through state-of-the-art elephant-specific veterinary facilities at Vantara.
According to PETA India, Madhuri arrived at Vantara with chronic foot issues, signs of laminitis, a long-standing abscess and painful swellings on both knees, and fractures and arthritis from her time walking on the tar roads for the processions and standing stationary for long periods on hard surfaces at the math.
The application pleads that Madhuri's transfer back to the mutt was in violation of the Bombay High Court's order dated July 16, 2025 and the Supreme Court's earlier order dated July 28, 2025 directing her transfer to Vantara's Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (RKTEWT), Jamnagar, for long-term rehabilitation and species-specific specialised care.
PETA India said the filing comes after the Supreme Court-appointed High-Powered Committee (HPC) permitted Madhuri's return to the mutt on September 9, even though its own three-member sub-committee concluded that the facility was not fit for "long-term management" of Madhuri following an inspection.
The sub-committee found inadequate opportunities for exercise and socialisation, high human interference and tar roads on Madhuri's proposed walking path, difficult access to a perennial water source, a risk of water contamination, and a lack of continuous specialised veterinary care and infrastructure, PETA India said.
The organisation said the report records that the mutt authorities stated that the facility was "purely for religious purposes" and "the rehabilitation needs are not being provided in the Math (Mutt)".
PETA India said it has also submitted evidence to the Supreme Court that shows Madhuri is now kept tethered alone in the shed from where she was seized, with paintings of trees on its walls in place of the natural surroundings she enjoyed at RKTEWT.
PETA India said a joint medical examination conducted by an HPC Sub-Committee along with PETA India representatives at RKTEWT in October 2025 documented Madhuri suffering osteoarthritis, osteolysis and multiple stress fractures from her time at the mutt. It noted the strong social bond with an elephant friend, Shanti.
In December, the HPC itself noted that medical opinion "strongly emphasises continuity of care" and warned that relocating Madhuri could risk "regression or physical deterioration."
PETA India said the HPC had ordered Madhuri's permanent rehabilitation at RKTEWT on June 3, 2025 after finding that the mutt lacked the infrastructure and expertise necessary to meet her complex medical and behavioural needs.
The Bombay High Court upheld that decision on July 16, 2025, and the Supreme Court upheld the high court's directions on July 28, 2025.
"However, a politically motivated campaign and boycott of Reliance products to force her return, Vantara supported her return to the mutt," PETA India added.
