In a recent development, the Delhi High Court granted permission for the transplantation of 26 trees to facilitate the Supreme Court's expansion project.
The approval came in response to an application filed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which sought clearance for relocating the trees within the Supreme Court premises to make way for the construction of additional courtrooms, a dedicated Constitutional Court, and chambers for judges, along with other facilities for lawyers and litigants.
According to the application, all 26 trees will be transplanted within the Supreme Court complex. CPWD’s affidavit outlined that 16 trees would be relocated to the garden’s periphery between Gates A and B, while the remaining 10 would be moved to an area near the corner of the Administrative Buildings Complex, close to Gate No. 1.
To offset the ecological impact, CPWD has already undertaken compensatory plantation of 260 trees at Sundar Nursery.
Allowing the application, the High Court laid down a series of conditions to ensure proper maintenance and accountability:
Status Report & Affidavit: A responsible CPWD officer must file an affidavit within two weeks detailing the health and upkeep of the transplanted trees and the compensatory plantation.
Photographic Evidence: Post-transplantation photographs must be submitted to enable the Amici Curiae to assess maintenance efforts.
Additional Plantation: CPWD is required to explore further plantation possibilities along the road leading to the Supreme Court, which once had a dense green cover before the Sundar Nagar Road expansion.
Scientific Pruning Oversight: A responsible officer must be present during pruning to ensure it is done scientifically. The Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) must file an affidavit confirming compliance, given concerns over past transplantation practices leading to tree damage.
Site-Specific Report: A transplantation report specific to the site must be submitted.
Annual Survival Audit: An annual affidavit must be filed by a CPWD officer, reporting on the survival and health of both the transplanted and compensatory trees.
The Court also directed the Chief Secretary of the Delhi Government to file an affidavit on the current status of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) related to tree transplantation, as referenced in earlier court orders dated 06.03.2024, 01.07.2024, 19.07.2024, 02.08.2024, and 20.12.2024. This affidavit must be filed within two weeks of the current order.
Furthermore, noting that the previous order dated 20.01.2025 permitting transplantation was not a speaking order, the Court directed the concerned Tree Officer to issue a fresh, reasoned order within two weeks.
For the Petitioner: Advocates Asmita Singh, Anirudh Anand, Tushar Nain, Punish Handa, Piyush Sharma, Pratyush Jain, and Eish Kesarwani.
For the Respondents: Special Public Counsels Farman Ali and Avshreya Pratap Singh Rudy, with Advocates Usha Jamnal, Harshita Chaturvedi, Siddhant Nagar, Sanjay Kumar Pathak, SK Jha, MS Akhtar, Mayank Madhu, SS Siddiqui, Sarosh Ali, Manish K Bishnoi, Khubaib Shakeel, Sudhir Mishra, Petel Chandhiok, and Vaishali Gupta.
Amici Curiae: Senior Advocates Gautam Narayan and Ankit Jain.
Case Title: Bhavreen Kandhari v Shri C. D. Singh
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