NGT notice to Delhi govt, police over de-notifying Asola forest land for station

The NGT has issued notices to Delhi officials over alleged illegal allotment of forest land for a police station, questioning its de-notification.

Published on: Apr 28, 2026, 04:18:18 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the Delhi government and Delhi Police on a plea alleging that a parcel of land in south Delhi’s Asola — notified as forest land in 1994 — was wrongly allotted to the Delhi Police for a Fatehpur Beri police station in 2015, and subsequently de-notified in 2025.

Questioning the legality of the de-notification, the applicant has sought action against Delhi Police and government officials responsible for the alleged illegal allotment and subsequent change in land status.

On April 22, a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava heard the matter filed by Delhi resident Devender against the forest settlement officer of the Delhi government.

According to the plea, the dispute pertains to land in Khasra number 1157 (6-2) in Asola village, which was notified as forest land through a notification dated May 24, 1994, after being identified as such in an STF report.

“The applicant has contended that after the land was notified as forest land, it was allotted by the Director, Gram Panchayat to the Delhi Police on February 12, 2015, for construction of a police station at Fatehpur Beri,” the bench noted.

“The applicant raises the further grievance that, by the impugned order at the instance of the Delhi Police department, the land has been de-notified. The plea of the applicant is that this entire exercise of de-notification of the land for the purpose of construction of a police station at Fatehpur Beri is unsustainable and illegal,” the tribunal observed.

Under existing norms, no construction or commercial activity can be carried out on forest land. In Delhi, any exemption requires approval from the Ridge Management Board (RMB), followed by clearances from the Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the Supreme Court.

The tribunal directed the Delhi Police and the state government to file their responses at least one week before the next date of hearing on July 30.

No response was received from the Delhi Police or the Delhi government.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More

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