The Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, founded by Adi Sankara, approached the Madras High Court to regain custody of its three female elephants: Sandhya (50), Indu (30), and Jayanti (14). These elephants currently live at the Tamil Nadu Forest Department's rescue and rehabilitation centre in M.R. Palayam, Tiruchi. Justice V. Lakshminarayanan directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden (PCCF-cum-CWC) to send a team to inspect a 2.94-acre facility set up by the Mutt at Konerikuppam in Kancheepuram district. The same inspection team that visited the site on December 9 may be recalled to check if earlier shortcomings were corrected. The court also asked Special Government Pleader (Forests) T. Seenivasan to report by January 6 on whether the M.R. Palayam centre has concrete sheds for elephants, as required by Tamil Nadu's Captive Elephants Rules, 2011. The Mutt's lawyer, V.R. Shanmuganathan, argued that none of the Forest Department’s elephant centres had concrete sheds but private owners are forced to build them. He said the Mutt has built two well-ventilated metal roof sheds and a 20 x 30 x 6 ft pond for the elephants to bathe in. There are three rooms for preparing their food and medicines. The Mutt owns 14.08 acres of nearby grasslands to provide 200 kg fodder each daily. The Mutt identified three mahouts and assistants ready to care for the elephants. The animals were given to a private institution at Marakkanam, Villupuram district, in 2016. After activist S. Muralidharan filed a public interest petition in 2019, they were moved to M.R. Palayam. Now that the Mutt has created the new facility, it is pushing to renew ownership licences and move the elephants there for temple rituals.