India’s richest men get protection against uncomfortable questions

“This is how democracies die – not with a bang but with the tap of a judge’s gavel.”

That’s how one social media commentator reacted to two court orders in recent weeks that afforded extraordinary protection from scrutiny to entities associated with the two richest men in India.

On Monday, it was the Supreme Court verdict in response to two public interest litigations about Vantara, the wildlife rescue centre run by the Mukesh Ambani family’s Reliance Foundation in Gujarat.

The private facility, which houses 2,000 species from around the world, has attracted allegations that animals were being illegally acquired, that the hot climate of Jamnagar was not suitable for an enterprise of this sort and of financial irregularities. But the Supreme Court declared that there was “no foul play” in the operations.

The speed with which the court conducted the proceedings – in just three hearings – was impressive and, given the languor of India’s legal system, uncharacteristic.

On August 25, the court had constituted a Special Investigative Team to provide an “independent factual appraisal” of whether Vantara was complying with the Wildlife Protection Act, the rules governing India’s zoos, the conventions on the international wildlife trade and other relevant regulations. It was given only 18 days to submit its...

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