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The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Chairperson of Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Lieutenant Governor of Delhi VK Saxena, and DDA former Vice-Chairman Subhashish Panda to file an affidavit stating the date when the LG was informed about the actual felling that took place in February in the Delhi Ridge forest area.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra while going through the files found that DDA's then Vice Chairman who has since been transferred to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), had informed LG Saxena about the tree cutting in April. However, Saxena in his affidavit has stated that he got to know that the court's permission was needed only in March - after the tree felling began in February. In an affidavit filed before the Court, LG Saxena also told the Court that he was apprised about the actual cutting of trees only in June. "The extract from the affidavit shows that the Chairperson was made aware of the fact that actual felling took place before February 16, 2024, in April," the bench noted while adding that the statement that Saxena was apprised on June 10 of the fact that the actual tree felling took place in February, seemed misplaced. In its order, the bench recorded, "We call for an additional affidavit from the Vice Chairperson of DDA on the above discrepancy. We also direct that all original records be produced before this court. Let the affidavit state the specific date when they came to know about the felling of trees." The apex court was hearing a contempt petition initiated by the top court against Panda over the felling of about 1100 trees. In his affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, Saxena stated that he was not informed about the need to obtain permission from the court before cutting down trees in the South Delhi Ridge forest area. He mentioned that he only learned about the illegal tree felling that occurred from February 16 to 26 after receiving a letter from the DDA Vice Chairman on June 10. (ANI)
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