'What Procedure Followed In Tree Felling?' : Supreme Court Issues Notice To Delhi Tree Authority & Officers

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Tree Authority and the Tree Officers appointed under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994, in a plea seeking to prevent the Delhi government from permitting tree felling under the Act without prior permission from the court.

A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih was hearing the plea that also seeks the constitution of an expert committee to evaluate the current tree protection measures in Delhi and submit recommendations for preserving existing trees and forests.

During the proceedings, Justice Abhay Oka stated, “What we propose to do is, we want to hear the tree officer and tree authority, what is the procedure they follow? What kind of checks and balances are there in the procedure they follow in tree felling. And then we propose to pass some order.” He added, “Some mechanism will have to be worked out; otherwise, indiscriminately powers are exercised.”

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan, appearing for the applicant, presented statistics to the court, stating, “Five trees are felled every hour in Delhi.”

Justice Oka responded, “What we feel is that if an application is for felling more than a particular number of trees, then some safeguard has to be there. The object of the Act is first, preserve the trees, and by way of exception, permissions can be granted to fell.”

Referring to the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, Sankarnarayanan explained that the Act outlines multiple functions for the Tree Authority and Tree Officer, including detailed oversight regarding trees.

According to an affidavit filed by the MCD in April 2024, Sankarnarayanan noted that there are currently 198,000 trees in Delhi. He pointed out that from 2019 to 2021, approximately 80,000 trees had been felled. Given the requirement for compensatory afforestation at a 1:10 ratio, he argued that 800,000 trees should have been planted; however, the MCD census found only 200,000 trees.

Sankarnarayanan highlighted a “deplorable” track record of tree officers in tree preservation over the last seven years. He stated, “The conduct over the last 7 years is deplorable, it is beyond excusable. None of the duties that they are supposed to discharge has been discharged. None, not one, not one.” He pointed out that the duties neglected by the officers included conducting a tree census, implementing compensatory afforestation, monitoring these activities, submitting status reports etc.

He highlighted that the Deputy Conservators of Forests who are members of the Tree Authority were only appointed after the Delhi High Court, in an order from 1994, directed the creation of a Forest Department for Delhi.

The Court issued notice to the Tree Authority and the Tree Officers appointed under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994. Notice was directed to be issued through the Principal Secretary of the Forest and Environment Department of the Government of Delhi, with notice returnable on November 22. The Court also allowed service of notice to be made to the counsel representing the Delhi government in the main writ petition.

Case no. – WP (C) No. 4677/1985

Case Title – MC Mehta v. Union of India and Ors.