The Supreme Court earlier passed an order on December 19, 2024, directing that tree officers must get approval from the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) before allowing the cutting of 50 or more trees. However, when the matter came up again on Friday, the bench refused to intervene.
NEW DELHI: On Friday, the Supreme Court of India decided not to interfere in an ongoing case regarding illegal tree felling in Delhi. Instead, it has left the decision to the Delhi High Court on whether it wants to continue hearing the matter, even though a similar issue is under consideration by the apex court.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan refused to issue any clarification for the Delhi High Court when senior advocate Gautam Narayan made a request.
Narayan, who is assisting as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the Delhi High Court proceedings, informed the Supreme Court that the Delhi government had urged the High Court to vacate (cancel) its previous orders restricting tree officers from approving tree cutting for big projects and residential constructions.
According to Narayan, “The Delhi government has argued that since the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, which passed an order on December 19, 2024, all previous high court orders should be vacated.”
He added that the Delhi government wanted to stop the High Court from deciding on the issue.
The Supreme Court had earlier passed an order on December 19, 2024, directing that tree officers must get approval from the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) before allowing the cutting of 50 or more trees. However, when the matter came up again on Friday, the bench refused to intervene.
The judges clearly stated, “If the high court wishes to continue despite our orders, it is for the high court to decide.”
On January 31, Justice Jasmeet Singh of the Delhi High Court reserved his order on the Delhi government’s application. The government had asked for the cancellation of past orders, including:
- An August 31, 2023 order that required tree officers to seek court permission before approving tree cutting for major projects.
- A September 14, 2023 order that stopped tree officers from allowing tree cutting for residential constructions.
- An August 9, 2024 order that repeated these directions.
The Delhi government filed its plea in response to a contempt petition by climate activist Bhavreen Kandhari. She had complained that tree officers were not following a 2022 order that required them to give proper reasoning when allowing tree felling.
In its plea before the High Court, the Delhi government cited the Supreme Court’s December 19, 2024 order. The government argued that since the Supreme Court was already looking into the matter, the High Court should not hear it separately. The Supreme Court’s order had made the CEC the authority to review requests for cutting 50 or more trees in Delhi. This order was passed to protect Delhi’s greenery.
The Supreme Court also directed a full tree census in Delhi with the help of the Forest Research Institute (FRI) and a panel of experts. This was to assess the loss of trees in the city. The intervention of the Supreme Court came after concerns were raised about the poor implementation of the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994 (DPTA). This law is meant to prevent excessive cutting of trees.
Data presented in court earlier showed that over 12,000 trees were cut down in Delhi between January 2021 and August 2023. This means that more than 12 trees were felled every day on average. The Supreme Court also noted that the tree authority in Delhi had met only twice since its formation. The judges criticized this inaction.
The case originally reached the courts because of climate activist Bhavreen Kandhari. She raised concerns about large-scale tree cutting and demanded stricter rules for approving tree felling. The Supreme Court, in its December 19 order, also said that it was considering implementing similar rules in other states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. This would help create a uniform system for environmental protection across India.
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