We at HEAL are immensely honoured to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Fight 4 Justice Awards 2025, organised by the Delhi High Court Bar Association and Live4Freedom.

This recognition reflects years of standing up for wildlife through legal action and ground-level work—particularly HEAL’s efforts to challenge large-scale illegal hunting festivals in West Bengal which led to clear court directions that prohibited mass slaughter of protected wildlife under the guise of tradition and placed responsibility on authorities to prevent it.

Receiving this award in the presence of Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, Hon’ble Judge of the Supreme Court of India, and Dr. M.K. Ranjitsinh Jhala, Chairperson of WTI and a lifelong voice for wildlife conservation, makes the moment especially meaningful for us.

This award affirms that justice for wildlife requires persistence, focus on implementation of the wildlife law, courage, and the willingness to confront entrenched practices and institutional inertia. It belongs to every rescuer, legal ally, community member, and supporter who stood firm in the belief that animals deserve protection, dignity, and representation under the law.

You can read the media coverage about the awards and the defenders of justice it honours here – When Courage Meets the Constitution: The 3rd Fight 4 Justice Awards Honour India’s Ǫuiet Defenders of Justice 

As the year draws to a close, this recognition feels like both an affirmation of our journey to protect wildlife and a renewed push to keep going.

Conservation in Action. Always.

Here is a glimpse of the award ceremony as Meghna Banerjee, Co-founder, HEAL, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Fight 4 Justice Awards 2025—a recognition of years of steadfast work for wildlife and environmental justice.

Our Ongoing Fight Against Ritual Hunting

HEAL has spearheaded landmark Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in the Calcutta High Court, successfully securing judicial orders that strictly prohibit the mass slaughter of protected wildlife under the guise of ritualistic tradition.

These legal victories, which form the core of our 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award recognition during the Fight 4 Justice Awards 2025 , allow us to implement a multi-dimensional strategy—combining court mandates with proactive enforcement through our ‘Zero Hunting Alliance’ and grassroots trust-building in local communities. By bridging the gap between the courtroom and the forest floor, we ensure that wildlife protection is not just a policy, but a practiced reality. To explore the details of our judicial successes and field-level strategies, read more about our Ritual Hunting Interventions here.