The Supreme Court has fined DDA officials.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has taken a tough stand against the Delhi Development Authority i.e. DDA in the case of cutting trees without permission in the ridge area of Delhi. The court has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on 3 officers, convicting the DDA for criminal contempt. However, the court has stopped contempt action against the then Vice Chairman of DDA, who is no longer in the post. Explain that this case is related to illegal harvesting of more than 1,100 trees in the ridge area of Delhi, which was made to widen the road reaching the Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS) Hospital.
Trees were cut before applying the application in court
The Supreme Court in its order of 1996 had clarified that prior permission of the court is necessary to cut trees in the ridge area. Despite this, DDA cut trees in February 2024 and hid the fact that it had cut trees before applying for permission in court on March 4, 2024. The Supreme Court said in its judgment that this act of DDA is not only a violation of the 1996 order, but intentionally hiding the facts and misleading the court comes under the purview of criminal contempt.
‘Such acts cannot be taken lightly’
Justice Suryakant and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh’s bench called it a case of ‘administrative excesses and misuse of power’. The court said, ‘Such acts cannot be taken lightly in the national capital. This is a serious matter of damage to the environment. The court imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on 3 officers, Manoj Kumar Yadav, Pawan Kumar and Ayush Saraswat, who were convicted in the internal investigation of DDA. Also, the court said that the ongoing departmental inquiry against these officials will continue. Subhasish Panda, the then Vice Chairman of DDA, was given relief on the basis that he was on leave and no longer in the post.
Instructions for environmental improvement
The Supreme Court issued several instructions to take corrective steps in this case:
Committee formation: The court has constituted a 3 -member specialist committee, which will plan a re -resurrection in the ridge area and will find the possibilities of planting dense trees on both sides of the road. This committee will submit its status report to the court from time to time. Road Construction: DDA has been instructed to complete the construction of the connecting road, but following the environmental rules. Recovery from the beneficiaries: The court said that the rich people benefiting from road widening should be identified and they should be recovered outright amount according to the cost of construction.
Question on the role of lieutenant governor
During the hearing, the Supreme Court had asked the DDA to clarify whether the order of cutting the tree was Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena, who is also the chairman of DDA, was on the instructions. However, the DDA claimed that the LG tour was related to the Capfims Hospital and there is no official record of the visit in his secretariat. The court expressed displeasure over this and said that DDA is trying to ‘save high officials’.
DDA officials did not punish severe punishment
Although the court justified the work of the DDA, it was also believed that the purpose of road widening was to make the access of emergency vehicles to Capfims Hospital, which is a ‘public interest’ task. For this reason, the court avoided taking strict action against the officials, but directed to take strict steps to compensate for environmental damage. The Supreme Court has advised the Delhi government and DDA to improve their functioning for environmental protection.
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