On Monday, the Supreme Court cleared Vantara, owned by Reliance Foundation, of all allegations of smuggling, money laundering, and violations related to sourcing animals. The court ruled that no court or administrative body in the country will handle any future complaints or proceedings regarding these allegations.
SIT Report remove all allegations on Vantara
The court’s decision was based on a report from a special investigation team (SIT), led by former Supreme Court judge Jasti Chelameswar and three other members. They gave a clean report to Vantara, also known as the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, located in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
The court established the SIT on August 25 after receiving two petitions. These petitions filed by lawyer CR Jaya Sukin and one Dev Sharma, who sought an independent inquiry into Vantara’s operations due to newspaper reports.
Supreme court dismiss all petitions against Ambani’s Animal Zoo
Justices Pankaj Mithal and PB Varale said, “The court has no hesitation in accepting the conclusion drawn in the report. Since the SIT reported no violation of the law, the complaints, especially those in Schedule A of the report summary, are closed.”
The SIT, which included former high court chief justice Raghavendra Chauhan, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale, and Additional Commissioner of Customs Anish Gupta, submitted its findings on September 12 in a sealed cover. The court opened the report on Monday and dismissed the petitions against Vantara.
The bench granted a clean chit moving forward, saying, “No further complaints or proceedings based on these same allegations considered by any judicial, statutory, or administrative forum to ensure finality and prevent repeated inquiries into matters settled by the SIT.”
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