Applying, getting permission and paying money “will be destroying your State”: with that oral remark, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has called the Punjab tree felling law, under the recently enacted Punjab Protection of Trees Act, draconian and asked the government to reconsider it.
Chandigarh: Before it examines a pending challenge to the Punjab Protection of Trees Act, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday questioned the law and urged the State government to take a fresh look at it [Praneet Kaur v. State of Punjab and Others].
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor heard the matter on October 31, 2026 and listed it for Monday.
Guidelines drafted, then a statute arrived
The High Court was already seized of tree felling in Punjab when the State notified the legislation in September. A judgment laying down detailed guidelines for the authorities was ready, but in view of the new law the Court wanted the State to revisit the issues first.
The matter goes back to December 2025. While hearing a batch of PILs mainly against the proposed felling of 251 trees in Mohali district, the High Court ordered that no tree be cut in Punjab without its prior permission until further orders. Many applications seeking permission followed, and the Court later extended its oversight to Haryana. It had recently recorded:
“As per the India State of Forest Report, 2023, tree and forest cover over Punjab is 3.67% while for Haryana it is 3.65%, which are both drastically below the national average of 25.17% and far below the 33% benchmark envisaged under the National Forest Policy, 1988.”
“Permission granted, deemed permission, money pay”
On Saturday the Bench turned to the new statute. It said the law allows trees to be felled subject to payment of money, and told the State that every government wants environmental protection and that tree felling must be viewed with far more seriousness. Orally, it remarked that the provision only says “you apply for permission, permission granted, deemed permission. At the most, money pay”.
“This will be destroying your State. We will say so, we have absolutely no difficulty when we are called upon to examine the merits of this particular legislation.”
Noting that Justice Rohit Kapoor had gone through all the provisions, the Bench added that “we can’t allow this kind of a draconian legislation”. These were oral, prima facie remarks; the validity of the Act is yet to be decided.
An application in the pending matter challenges the Act, alleging that it removes earlier safeguards and permits felling simply on deposit of certain charges. The Court was also told that executive officers of local urban bodies have been named tree protection officers, though in most cases they are the ones seeking permission to cut trees.
Instructions by Monday; Haryana to revisit its draft
Counsel for the Punjab government said he would seek instructions by Monday. In its order, the Court recorded:
“We are sure that the State of Punjab would be equally interested in protection of environment and therefore appropriate instructions would be furnished to the Ld. counsel for State of Punjab to be placed before the Court on Monday.”
The Haryana government gave an assurance, also recorded by the Court, that it would re-examine its own draft law, which is substantially modelled on the Punjab legislation, and would finalise it only after carefully examining the Court’s guidelines on the subject.
What Monday’s hearing puts in question
With tree cover in both States at under four percent, the question is whether felling should turn on a fee or on a real assessment of need. The Bench has signalled that a scheme of deemed permission on payment may not survive scrutiny, while giving the elected government the first chance to correct course.
The State’s response on Monday, and Haryana’s approach to its own draft, will decide whether the Court proceeds to test the Act on its merits and release the guidelines it has already prepared.
Case Title: Praneet Kaur v. State of Punjab and Others
Bench: Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor, Punjab and Haryana High Court
Date of Hearing: October 31, 2026
Next Date: Monday, November 2, 2026