Delhi
High Court on Thursday directed that the authorities in the national capital
will not grant permission to fell trees for the construction of houses.
The
high court also said that its order dated August 31, when the Delhi government
had stated that no permission to fell trees for any individuals would be
granted and any permission required for important projects would be intimated
to the court till the next date of hearing, shall continue.
Justice
Jasmeet Singh granted two weeks' time to Anupam Srivastava, the Delhi
government's additional standing counsel, to file a detailed report on the
status of transplanted and replanted trees in the city.
The
court sought to know whether the process of transplantation or replantation was
successful.
"In
the meantime, the directions contained in the August 31 order shall continue.
No permission shall be granted for felling of trees in respect of construction
of houses," Justice Singh said and listed the matter for further hearing
on October 6.
The
high court was hearing a petition seeking contempt action against the officers
who, despite clear directions of the court in an April 2022 order that required
them to "spell out the reasons for felling of even a single tree",
were not complying with it.
Petitioner
Bhavreen Khandari's lawyer Aditya N Prasad had filed an application seeking
early hearing of the contempt plea, stating that despite the April 2022 order,
the authorities were "recklessly granting permission for felling of
trees".
The
high court, after perusing the permissions granted by the officers for felling
trees in the city, said on August 31 that "a perusal of the permissions
granted by the respondent for felling of trees seems to suggest that there is
total non-application of mind while granting permissions. Some of the
permissions show that trees have been permitted to be cut for individuals
requiring parking spaces for their vehicles".
The petitioner's counsel had earlier submitted that
he had come across 57 orders issued by the tree officers in which
felling/transplantation permissions had been granted simply because the trees
were falling in the alignment of proposed construction projects.