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 elephant calf Suman, who was the main character in the show. According to PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals), the baby elephant was not treated well on the set and after conducting an inspection, it was found that she had developed skin infection and exhibited abnormal behaviour. The case came up for hearing on March 20 in the Bombay High Court, but has been adjourned till April 1.

Dr Manilal Valliyate, director of veterinary affairs at PETA, says, “Suman and her mother were with a circus, but was sent to Jaipur through some illegal trading. Then the production company brought her to the studio in Gujarat. This recently came to our attention. Separating a three-year-old calf 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 AWBI that the calf had been separated from its mother and about 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, AWBI pleaded with the court to allow inspection of the show's set. 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.“

He adds, “Based on this report, AWBI moved a motion on the existing case, that the use of the calf should be stopped and she 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 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.“

Meanwhile, AWBI reps claim that the production house used another elephant in another show, Razia Sultan, without taking permission from the board. Dr S Chinny Krishna, vice chairman of the board says, “Initially, they received an application for the use of two elephants, one of them was Suman and the other was Pawan Mala, and the permission was given. When we came to know that the 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 elephant called Parvati for Bandhan which was rejected. We also got to know that they used Parvati in Razia Sultan too without permission.“

Producer Siddharth Kumar Tewary 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.“