SC says brazen acts of tree felling in Delhi cannot be lightly brushed aside

New Delhi [India], June 24 : The Supreme Court on Monday observed that brazen acts of tree felling in the national capital cannot be brushed aside lightly and sought to know from the vice chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) if the illegal cutting of trees in ridge forest was carried out based on the direction issued by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.
A vacation bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said it was very shocking that the trees were cut despite knowing that it cannot be done without the permission of the top court.
The bench said it proposes to hold a detailed enquiry into the acts of the DDA which destroyed several valuable trees and, consequently, the degradation of the environment.
"Such brazen acts in the capital city cannot be lightly brushed aside by this court. If the authorities are not performing their statutory and constitutional duties of protecting the environment, the court has to give a clear and loud signal to all authorities that the environment cannot be damaged in such a fashion," said the bench.
The apex court was hearing a suo moto contempt case initiated by it against DDA vice chairman Subhashish Panda for the felling of large-scale trees in violation of the orders of the court.
The apex court, after perusing the report of the Enquiry Committee, which has been constituted by the DDA to inquire into the felling of trees, noted that certain email communications referred to a site visit made by the LG on February 3, 2024.
"We direct the vice chairman to state before the court whether any official record is available regarding the site visit of the Lieutenant Governor on February 3 and on what transpired on the visit of the LG. We need a clear statement of facts from the vice chairman, because if what is indicated in the emails is correct, then the felling of the trees was in accordance with the directions by the LG. We expect the DDA to come clean on this aspect," the top court said.
The bench, from the affidavit of the vice chairman, noted that the "entire blame has been shifted on the officers, stating that they were responsible for directing the contractors to cut the trees without the permission of the court."
It issued notices to concerned DDA officers and sought their response by July 12.
The bench said it proposes to issue directions for a massive tree plantation drive in the entire city and asked the DDA and Attorney General R Venkataramani to assist it in the matter.
The top court has now posted the matter for hearing on June 26.
Earlier, the top court had directed the DDA to stop all further activities for road construction and expressed displeasure about how the entire exercise of tree cutting was done in the Delhi Ridge area without the permission of the court.
It had also directed the planting of 100 new trees for each tree felled by the DDA.
The apex court had also issued a contempt notice to the vice chairman of DDA for the felling of over 1,000 trees for the construction of an approach road.