Aarey petitioner to Bombay HC: BMC commissioner said project must pass before poll code kicks in

The plea said the August 29 resolution for the removal of the trees is a “brazen breach” of a High Court order in July.

The petitioner challenging the proposed Metro carshed at Aarey Milk Colony Monday told Bombay High Court that the BMC commissioner had observed that the proposal needed to be passed before the model code of conduct for Assembly polls came into effect.

The court was hearing a PIL by activist Zoru Bhathena, challenging decision of the Tree Authority to cut 2,646 trees. The plea said the August 29 resolution for the removal of the trees is a “brazen breach” of a High Court order in July. The order had said the opinions of expert members must be valued and should become an essential facet of decision-making. The final decision must also include the reason if objections by experts are ignored, the order said.

Arguing for Bhathena, Janak Dwarkadas told the court that one of the observations by BMC commissioner to pass the proposal soon was that the code of conduct would come in force. “You’re not deciding on 2-3 trees, it is about 3,000 trees and there is no relevance of code of conduct…,” Dwarkadas said.