Overview
- The writ petition by Karanartham Viramah Foundation was rejected by a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and N. V. Anjaria in an order dated March 9.
- The court reiterated that a court-appointed SIT’s report, accepted on September 15, 2025, found no breach of domestic law or CITES rules in Vantara’s acquisitions.
- A CITES secretarial document cited in the case recorded no evidence of missing CITES permits and no evidence that imports were for commercial purposes.
- The bench warned that disrupting lawfully imported animals settled in rescue facilities may itself amount to cruelty.
- The petition’s requests for broad disclosure of records, creation of an independent compliance committee, new SOPs, and a temporary import ban were not granted.