Mumbai: Court proceedings closed against 29 Aarey protesters

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 10 : A Mumbai court has formally closed the proceedings against 29 persons booked by the Aarey Police in 2019 for opposing the felling of trees for a proposed metro car-shed at Aarey colony.
"The cases against 29 citizens that protested to Save Aarey have been fully and formally withdrawn and closed today in court," tweeted Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray.
Last year in October, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray directed the state Home Department to immediately start the procedure to withdraw cases registered against protestors, following which the police station had filed a plea for permission to withdraw the cases.
In October 2019, over 2,185 trees were razed in the area in concurrence with the Bombay High Court's order which had upheld the permission granted to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) tree authority to cut down trees to make a metro-car shed.
In pursuance of the widespread protests which erupted after the felling of trees in Mumbai's Aarey colony, the apex court had ordered the Maharashtra government not to axe any more trees and maintain the status quo till further orders.