"File Personal Affidavit In Ridge Tree-Cutting Case": Supreme Court To Delhi Lt Governor
NDTV
The trees had been felled to widen a road connecting Chhatarpur with the South Asian University.
The Supreme Court has asked Delhi Lieutenant General VK Saxena, in his capacity as the chairperson of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), to file a personal affidavit explaining what steps are being taken to fix responsibility for the alleged illegal felling of over 600 trees in the capital's Ridge area, which is an extension of the Aravallis.
Hearing a contempt case against the DDA vice-chairperson and some officials from the authority as well as the Delhi government over the alleged felling of trees in the Ridge area on Wednesday, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also said criminal action should be taken against the officers responsible for the tree cutting if the DDA chairperson agrees.
In an earlier hearing, the DDA had admitted that trees were axed on forest land in the southern part of the Ridge in south Delhi to widen a road connecting Chhatarpur with the South Asian University. The court had come down heavily on the authority and asked why this was hidden from it despite knowing that tree-cutting could not be done without permission.
