The welfare of the elephant Mahadevi is prioritized over the Petitioner Trust's religious rights under Article 25, emphasizing the necessity for legal protection of animals as established in prior case law.

JUDGMENT :

Neela Gokhale, J.

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With consent of the parties, the Petition is taken up for final hearing.

2. THE CHALLENGE :

2.1 By way of this Petition, the Petitioner seeks to quash and set aside the impugned order dated 27^th December 2024 and 3^rd June 2025 passed by the Respondent No.2-High Power Committee (‘HPC’) and also directions to the Respondent Nos.3 to 5 not to take any coercive action for transfer of the elephant namely Mahadevi @ Madhuri from the Petitioner Trust-Mathsansthan to the Respondent No.6- Radhe Krishna Elephant Welfare Trust at Jamnagar pursuant to the order impugned dated 27^th December 2024 and 3^rd June 2025 passed by the Respondent No.2.

3. PARTIES TO THE PETITION :

3.1 The Petitioner is a Trust registered under the provisions of Maharashtra Public Trust Act, 1950 belonging to Jain discipline. The Petitioner Trust owns the elephant namely Mahadevi since the year 1992 and is stated to have a religious tradition to keep an elephant in the Math for religious programs. The maintenance of the elephant is an integral part of the Trust activities. The Respondent No.1 is the Union of India; the Respondent No.2 is the HPC; the Respondent Nos.3, 4 and 5 are the Chief Wildlife Warden & Principal Chief Conservator of Forest of the Maharashtra State, the Chief Forest Conservator (Regional), Kolhapur and the Deputy Forest Conservator, Kolhapur respectively. The Respondent No.6 is the Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (‘RKTEWT’) which is the receiving facility. This facility is stated to operate a specialized and well- equipped elephant care center i.e. suitable, appropriate and capable of receiving and caring for the said elephant. It is located in village Moti Khavdi, Jamnagar, Gujarat with an object of caring and rehabilitation of elephants that are injured, abandoned, rescued from circus and otherwise found to be neglected or abused. It is to this institution that the HPC has directed transfer and custody of the said elephant for its long term care and rehabilitation. The Respondent No.7 (‘PETA’) is a registered non-governmental animal rights organization with pan India operations. It is the original complainant which had represented to the HPC regarding the plight of captive female elephant Mahadevi, housed at the premises of the Petitioner-Math.

4. FACTS OF THE CASE :

4.1 The Petitioner is the owner of the said elephant having registration certificate No. MH/04/02KLP/203 issued under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) (Maharashtra) (Amendment) Rules, 2004. According to the Petitioner, officials of the Respondent Nos.3 to 5 regularly visit the premises of the Petitioner and conduct check-up of the elephant.

4.2 On a representation made by PETA, the HPC by its order dated 28^th December 2023 directed transfer of the said elephant from the Petitioner trust to the RKTEWT. The Petitioner filed a Writ Petition No.3713 of 2024 in this Court assailing the said order, being an ex-parte order. By order dated 13^th March 2024, this Court requested the HPC to consider the representation dated 7^th February 2024 made by the Petitioner and take a decision thereon within a period of 15 days after giving an opportunity of hearing to all the concerned parties. In the meantime, the Respondent Nos.3 to 5 were to defer the transfer of the said elephant. Accordingly, the HPC formed a sub-committee to visit the Petitioner’s premises and inspect the facilities and health conditions of the elephant and submit a report. The sub-committee visited the Petitioner’s premises on 12^th June 2024 &