The Delhi High Court has taken serious action against the Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF), South Division, by issuing a contempt of court notice for allowing the felling of two trees and transplanting 132 others in the Old Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus. This action was taken in clear violation of an undertaking given to the Court.

The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh passed the Order while dealing with a case concerning non-compliance with the Court's 2022 directions on tree felling. The Bench expressed dismay at the Forest Department's failure to inform the Court about the permission granted for tree cutting.

Despite the matter being taken up by the Court on May 3, 2024, it was not disclosed that permission had already been granted for the felling and transplantation of trees. This breach of transparency raised serious concerns about the Forest Department's adherence to legal procedures.

The case originated from allegations of repeated violations of the Court's 2022 directives, which mandated tree officers to provide reasons for any tree felling. Despite these clear instructions, permissions for felling were reportedly granted 22 times between May and August 2022.

Following these violations, the Delhi government assured the Court on August 31, 2023, that no further permissions for tree felling would be granted without informing the Court. However, the recent incident at the JNU campus raised doubts about the Forest Department's compliance with this commitment.

During the recent hearing, the Court scrutinized the events surrounding the felling and transplantation of trees at the Old JNU Campus for the construction of a building at the Institute of Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM).

Additionally, the Court addressed an application filed by the Forest Division, seeking clarity on whether permissions for tree felling should be intimated to or placed before the Court. The Court clarified that its previous orders did not grant blanket permission for tree felling, emphasizing that important projects still required Court notification.

Consequently, the Court found the DCF prima facie guilty of violating the Court's orders and issued a contempt notice against them. The DCF has been asked to provide an explanation for their actions, with further proceedings scheduled for July 5.

Cause Title: Bhavreen Kandhari v. Shri C.D. Singh and Ors.

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Advocates Aditya N. Prasad, Gautam Narayan, Prabhsahay Kaur (Amici Curiae) Abhimanyu Bhandari, Roohl Hina Dua, Sahib Kochhar, Shreya Arora

Respondent: Senior Advocate Chetan Sharma, Advocates Tarun Johri, Ankur Gupta, Vishwajeet Tyagi, Dhairya Gupta, Gautam Mann, Bhavishya Makhija, Waize Ali Noor, Varun Rajawat, Vidhi Jain, Aryan Agrawal, Petal Chandhok, Rupali Gupta, Amit Peswani, Rajesh Katyal, T Singhdev, Aabhas, Yoginder Handoo, Ashwin Kataria, Garvit Solank, Ashutosk Kaushik, Roni John, Harshita Nathrani, Vanshay Kaul, Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Standing Counsel (SC) Siddhant Nath, Manika Tripathy, Additional Standing Counsel (ASC) Nandita Rao, Anupam Srivastava, Sameer Vashisht

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Justice Jasmeet SinghDelhi High CourtContempt of Courts Act 1971

Sukriti Mishra