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Delhi Ridge trees cut: SC refers matter to CJI after 2 benches clash over case
One bench raised questions of judicial impropriety against the other for taking up the contempt matter against DDA. CJI will decide which bench will continue hearing the case
The Supreme Court on Wednesday witnessed a rare clash between two benches with one raising questions of judicial impropriety against the other for taking up the contempt matter against the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for tree-felling in the Ridge area in Delhi and referred the matter to the chief justice of India (CJI) to determine which bench should continue hearing the case.
A three-judge bench headed by justice BR Gavai on Wednesday said, “On the question of propriety when one bench is seized of the contempt proceedings, should the other bench have proceeded in contempt? The other bench has not adhered to judicial propriety,” questioning the manner in which hearing was initiated on the contempt plea against DDA by a bench led by justice AS Oka.
The justice Gavai-led bench is the specially designated forest bench that issued the notice of contempt against DDA for alleged felling of trees in the ridge on April 24 this year while hearing an application in the TN Godavarman batch matters relating to protection of forests and wildlife.
The same issue arose in a separate contempt petition filed against DDA by a public-spirited person, Bindu Kapurea, and was entertained by another bench headed by justice Oka. On May 14, this bench issued contempt notices and hauled up the land-owning agency for felling trees in ridge area for widening of a road leading to SAARC University and a hospital for central armed paramilitary forces in Satbari. It was in these proceedings the court also called in question the role of the Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena in ordering the felling of trees and examined lapses on part of the Delhi government and the Tree Authority in failing to check the chopping of more than 800 trees even as permission was sought by DDA for felling only 422 trees.
The forest bench headed by justice Gavai, also comprising justices PK Mishra and KV Viswanathan, kept the matter before it in abeyance and said, “In order to avoid further conflicting orders, we find it appropriate that matters pertaining to the ridge area which are being monitored by this court in the TN Godavarman case be placed before the CJI for taking instructions for the matter to be decided by one and the same bench.”
Advocate K Parmeshwar, assisting the court as amicus curiae, informed the bench that the contempt matter before the bench led by justice Oka made substantial progress, and orders were passed stalling further road construction, recovery of cut trees, and inquiry to determine number of trees cut and fixing of responsibility on authorities for flouting court orders.
Additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for Centre, confirmed that she had informed the other bench about a similar matter pending before the forest bench.
The court said in its order, “It would have been more appropriate for the other bench to seek clarification from the CJI before initiating contempt proceedings for the same course of action to ascertain which bench should continue hearing the contempt proceedings.”
DDA was represented in the proceedings by senior advocate Vikas Singh, who said that due to orders passed by the other bench, a 7m road cannot be widened to 24m, and this has hampered the operationalisation of the hospital situated in the vicinity. He informed the bench that permission for constructing the hospital was granted by the top court in the TN Godavarman matter in 2018, and an amount of ₹2,200 crore was spent on its construction.
The petitioner in the other matter, Kapurea, represented by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, also intervened by pointing out that before the other bench, DDA categorically stated that it has withdrawn the road-widening project. The counsel said it was open for the authority to raise these arguments before the other bench where the matter has been argued, and the next date of hearing is July 31.
Justice Gavai said, “Since the time I have started presiding over this bench, I have been passing orders with regard to the Delhi ridge for the past two years. Why are you averse to getting a clarification from the CJI? It does not matter to us which bench hears the matter. We only want judicial propriety.”
In a related case, the court dealt with a recent report filed by a central empowered committee (CEC), assisting the forest bench in environment protection cases, that detailed a shocking situation about depletion of ridge forest cover in Delhi. In May, the court had sought responses from DDA, the Union government and the Delhi government on the report, but none of the authorities filed any reply.
The report pointed out that notification was issued in 1984 to classify 7,784 hectares as the Ridge forest area but the final notification under Section 20 of Indian Forest Act (notifying the land as reserved forest) was issued for an area of 103.48 hectares, roughly 1.33% of the total ridge forest area. The notified area of 103 hectares includes 14.18 hectares in Chattarpur and 89.30 hectares in Rangpuri.
CEC also raised questions on the management of ridge land as 5% of ridge area was under encroachment and rate of diversion of land for non-forest purposes was on the rise.
Posting the matter in August, the bench took exception to lack of responses filed by the concerned authorities and governments, and gave four weeks as a “last chance”. The court warned that in the event no responses are filed, it will not hesitate from summoning the chief secretary of Delhi and vice-chairman of DDA.
The Ridge in Delhi is the tail end of the ancient Aravalli Hills, extending from Gujarat all through Rajasthan and Haryana before ending in Delhi. It is the “green lung” of the city, home to a variety of flora and fauna, and plays a crucial role in cutting down the effects of pollution.
The original notification for the ridge issued in 1994 covered an area of 7,777 hectares and was extended in 1996 to include Nanakpura Ridge under section 4 of Forest Act, taking the total notified ridge reserve forest space to 7,784 hectares. The Ridge is under ownership of multiple agencies with substantial portion under DDA.
