TV show, AWBI in legalbattle over treatment of elephant on show’s set

The makers of TV show Bandhan and the Animal Welfare Board Of India (AWBI) are involved in a legal battle over the issue of alleged cruelty to the elephant calf that was the main character in the show. According to PETA, the baby elephant, Suman, used in the show was not treated well on the sets and after conducting a set inspection, it was found that the animal had developed skin infection and exhibited abnormal behaviour.The case came up for hearing on March 20 in front of the Bombay High Court, but has been adjourned till April 1.
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Dr Manilal Valliyate, director of veterinary affairs at PETA (People For Ethical Treatment Of Animals), says, “The elephant calf Suman and its mother were with a circus. Through some illegal trading, the animal was sent to Jaipur. The production company hired the calf from Jaipur and brought it to the studio in Gujarat. This recently came to our attention. Since it’s a three-year-old calf, separating it from its mother is unethical. The production house also didn’t furnish proper information to AWBI, but somehow, the board allowed the use of the animal. When we notified the AWBI that the calf had been separated from its mother and the illegal trade through which the calf reached Jaipur, they immediately cancelled the registration of the animal. After that, the production house went to the Bombay High Court against the board, asking for the reason for cancellation of permission. Now, the case is sub judice. While all this was happening, the AWBI pleaded the court to allow inspection of the show’s sets. In the last week of January, the board sent a team of experts from the Centre for Studies on Elephants, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Kerala, a board member, a PETA veterinarian and officials from the NGO Animal Rahat. They inspected the calf and found severe violations.”
According to PETA officials, the inspection team found that the calf was kept in strict confinement, tied with short, tight nylon ropes. She was also found suffering from severe skin infection and an untreated abscess. The animal was apparently exhibiting signs of severe mental stress through behaviour like trunk-weaving, swaying and head-bobbing. The calf’s handlers also reportedly threatened her with sticks in front of the inspectors and she was not provided with adequate access to drinking water, appropriate housing or necessary veterinary care. “Based on this report, the AWBI moved a motion on the existing case, that the use of the calf should be stopped and the animal should be rescued and rehabilitated. The producers violated the norms of the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules. As per the law, they were supposed to send raw footage to the AWBI from time to time and take an NOC from the board. All this was ignored by the production company. They had pleaded to the court that they won’t be able to submit the footage daily but they can submit it on a weekly basis, and the court allowed it,” Dr Valliyate tells us.
Meanwhile, the AWBI reps claim that the production house used another elephant in another show, Razia Sultan, without taking permission from the board. “Initially, the AWBI received an application for the use of two elephants, one was a baby elephant called Suman and the other was called Pawan Mala, and the permission was given. When we came to know that the baby elephant was kept without its mother, we withdrew the permission. It was then that the producers went to court. Meanwhile, the committee got an application for an NOC for using another animal called Parvati for their show Bandhan which was rejected. We also got to know that they used Parvati in Razia Sultan also without permission. We will present these facts to the court,” says Dr S Chinny Krishna, vice chairman, AWBI.
Siddharth Kumar Tewary, the producer of the show, didn’t wish to comment on the issue since the case is sub judice. Sources close to the production house tell us, “The producers have not done anything wrong and are shooting with proper permission. The PETA reps created an issue and the AWBI cancelled the permission without giving any reasons. That’s why we have been fighting a case for the last four months.”
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