The Punjab Tree Felling Law will not be acted upon for now: the State has told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the Punjab Protection of Trees Act, 2026 will be kept in abeyance while it is reconsidered, and the Court has said it will frame detailed tree-felling guidelines for Punjab and Haryana.
Chandigarh: The Punjab government on Monday, November 2, informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the Punjab Protection of Trees Act, 2026 will be kept in abeyance until its provisions are reconsidered, a week after the Court called the law draconian and asked the State to rethink it [Praneet Kaur v. State of Punjab & Ors.].
The matter was heard by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor.
What the State told the Court
The State said it “will not proceed” under the new enactment and will abide by the Court’s guidelines, and that it may reconsider the legislation in light of the Court’s decision. It also told the Bench that no permission to fell trees has been granted under the new Act so far. The Court said it will issue detailed guidelines on the felling of trees in Punjab and Haryana. Last week, the Haryana government had told the Court that it would re-examine the provisions of its own draft legislation in line with the Court’s observations.
Why the Bench objected
At the previous hearing, the Bench had termed the Act draconian, noting that it permits trees to be felled on payment of money, and had remarked that such a law will destroy the State. The challenge to the Act came by way of an application in the pending matter, alleging that the new law removes earlier safeguards and allows tree cutting simply on deposit of certain charges. The Court had also been told that executive officers of local urban bodies had been made tree protection officers, even though those bodies themselves seek permission to cut trees in most cases.
Background
In December 2025, the High Court passed significant directions in a batch of public interest litigations, primarily challenging a move to fell 251 trees in Mohali district, and ordered that no tree be cut in Punjab without its prior permission until further orders. A large number of applications seeking permission to cut trees followed, and the Court later extended its oversight to Haryana as well, given that forest cover in both States is near the bottom of the national figures.
The Court recently recorded the position in these words:
“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.”
Why the order matters
The State’s statement means the 2026 Act will not be used to grant felling permissions while the Court’s supervision continues, and the High Court’s December 2025 regime of prior permission stays the operative check in Punjab. With both Punjab and Haryana now re-examining their laws, the guidelines the Court has promised are likely to set the standard for tree felling across the two States.
The case also shows how a constitutional court can engage with legislation without striking it down. Rather than ruling on the Act’s validity, the Bench flagged its concerns in open court, and the executive chose to hold the law back and rethink it, leaving the question of the Act’s constitutionality open.
Case Title: Praneet Kaur v. State of Punjab & Ors.
Bench: Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor, Punjab and Haryana High Court
Date of Hearing: November 2, 2026