The Supreme Court criticized the Delhi government for its insensitivity towards environmental protection, rebuking its decision to grant permission to the Delhi Development Authority to cut down 422 trees in the reserve forest area of Southern Ridge for road construction.
Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan stated that it is undisputed, as acknowledged in the statement by the tree officer, that no permission was granted for the felling of 422 trees.
The Supreme Court was hearing suo motu contempt proceedings against the vice chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) regarding the alleged cutting of 1,100 trees in the ridge forest for a road widening project.
"The Delhi government must take the blame for granting permission to fell 422 trees, though there was no statutory power vesting in the Delhi government to grant such permission," the bench said in an order dated July 12.
"Thus, apart from the trees in the ridge area, the government facilitated cutting and felling the trees outside the ridge area without permission under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994," it said.
The Supreme Court remarked that similar to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the Delhi government has displayed insensitivity towards environmental protection. The bench pointed out that the Delhi government has not even provided office space or basic infrastructure to the tree officer and the Tree Authority.
The bench further directed the Delhi government to appear before the court and explain "how it intends to compensate for the environmental damage caused by its illegal actions.''
"The affidavit of the Delhi government also shows that this is not the only instance where the forest department of the Delhi government purported to grant permission for the felling of trees. They had done it earlier also," it said.
The Delhi government's stand is that "the DDA has accepted that they misread the notifications issued by the Delhi government", the bench said.
"That will not absolve the Delhi government of its responsibility of passing orders permitting the felling of trees, though no statutory power is vested in the Delhi government," it said.
"Apart from a statement on oath which we expect the Delhi government to make about compensating the loss caused to the environment, we hope and trust that the Delhi government will immediately stop exercising the non-existent power of granting permissions for the felling of trees," it said.
The bench said, "While we do so, we direct the Delhi government to ascertain how many such permissions have been granted by the Delhi government in the last five years and place all those permissions on record."
During the hearing, the Supreme Court expressed frustration over what it described as a continuous "cover up" by authorities regarding the involvement of Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena in the tree felling in the ridge area. The court directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to clarify whether the decision to cut trees was based on oral permission from the LG or if the DDA independently made the decision.
Senior advocate Aditya Sondhi, representing the Delhi government, assured the court that office infrastructure, staff, and essential hardware and software will be provided to the Tree Authority and the tree officer within six weeks.
The bench said, "The Delhi government shall also ensure that the Tree Authority is properly constituted before the next date. Regarding the forest department of the state government, the entire infrastructure must be put in place within two months from today."
"The Delhi government must file an affidavit indicating what measures the forest department is taking to prevent environmental damage, including keeping vigil to stop the illegal felling of trees," it said.
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