The Supreme Court has asked the Delhi government to stop exercising its “non-existent” powers to grant permission to cut trees in the city. In an order in the ongoing contempt matter in the felling of trees in the Ridge to make way for a road, the bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said that it is an admitted position, as reflected in the statement made by the tree officer, that for felling 422 trees, the officer did not grant any permission. The last hearing in the matter was on July 12 and the order was uploaded Tuesday evening. “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 file for granting Delhi Development Authority (DDA) the permission to cut 422 trees was cleared by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. It was then sent to Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V K Saxena with the note that he was bound by the aid and advice of the elected government in the matter. DDA, L-G also pulled up In its hearing, the court also pulled up the DDA as well as the L-G, alleging a cover-up. “The first day, we should have been told — yes, Lieutenant Governor came and said, expedite the work. Cover-up went on for three days, four days… Why was it not brought to our notice immediately? You should have accepted it — yes, L-G visited, he was worried the project was getting delayed and the road has to be constructed for the benefit of some colony also, and he said do it immediately,” Justice Oka said. The court also said that the government had shown lack of sensitivity over protecting the environment. “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. “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 top court said, like the DDA, the Delhi government has shown a lack of sensitivity over protecting the environment. The bench said the Delhi government has not even provided the tree officer and the Tree Authority an office or basic infrastructure to carry out duties. “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. Seeking a report from the government on the number of trees cut in this manner over the past five years, the bench said, “…We direct the Delhi government to ascertain how many such permissions have been granted.in the last five years and place all those permissions on record.”
