India, July 17 -- The Bombay high court on Wednesday upheld the transfer of an elephant named Mahadevi from a Jain math in Kolhapur to a Gujarat sanctuary, holding that the animal's right to a dignified life outweighed religious customs.

Swasthishri Jinsen Bhattarak, a Kolhapur-based trust belonging to the Jain discipline, follows the tradition of keeping an elephant in the math for religious programmes, and has had Mahadevi there since 1992. However, animal rights body PETA, represented by advocates Vishal Kanade and Prateek Pai from Keystone Partners, made a representation on its plight.

Consequently, the high-powered committee (HPC) on elephant transfers-set up by the Tripura high court and subsequently given pan-India jurisdiction b...