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The Supreme Court has restrained the Pune Municipal Corporation from cutting trees till December 21 for widening one of the roads there so that a litigant can approach the Bombay High Court with the grievance.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwla and Manoj Misra said no tree will be cut for widening the road till December 21. The Pune civic body has decided to widen the Ganeshkhind Road stretch from the Savitribai Phule Pune University junction to Sancheti Chowk from the existing 36 metres to 45 metres. In its order, the bench stated, "In order to enable the appellants to have a reasonable time to approach the High Court, we direct that no further felling of trees shall take place between the date of this order (from December 15) and till 5 pm of December 21, 2023 for the widening of Ganeshkhind Road." The order of the apex court came as it took into note the submissions of senior advocate and former Delhi High Court judge Najmi Waziri, who was appearing for the petitioner, Ameet Gurucharan Singh. The top court disposed of the plea, saying it was leaving the matter to the High Court to take an appropriate decision. Earlier, the Bombay High Court disposed of a PIL filed by organisation 'Parisar Sanrakshan Sanwardhan Sanstha' in October this year on the procedure adopted by the Pune Municipal Corporation in granting permission for felling trees to facilitate widening of the Ganeshkhind Road. The High Court had issued directions, including that the Tree Authority, which is the final authority empowered to take a decision in the matter, needed to consider not only the report and recommendations submitted by the Tree Officer but also the objections and suggestions that may be filed by the general public. (ANI)
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