NEW DELHI: Observing that the act of cutting a large number of trees was worse than killing a human being, Supreme Court on Tuesday said no mercy should be shown to people who damage the environment and approved imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh for each illegally cut tree.
Sending out a clear message that those indulging in illegal cutting of trees without approval from the authority concerned and damaging the environment must be dealt with an iron hand, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan rejected the plea of a man who had cut down 454 trees in the protected Taj Trapezium Zone.
SC order sets benchmark for fines in tree-felling cases
The bench accepted the suggestion of senior advocate ADN Rao, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, that a clear message needed to be sent to offenders that the law and trees could not, and should not, be taken for granted. With its order, the court has set a benchmark on how much fine should be imposed in such cases.
“No mercy in environmental case. Felling a large number of trees is worse than killing a human. It will take at least 100 years minimum to again regenerate or recreate the green cover created by 454 trees which were blatantly cut without permission of this court though the embargo imposed by this court is right from the year 2015,” the bench said.
The court accepted the report of the central empowered committee (CEC), which recommended a fine of Rs 1 lakh per tree for 454 trees which were cut last year by one Shiv Shankar Agarwal. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for him, told the bench that his client had admitted the mistake and apologised and urged the court to reduce the fine amount, which he said was exorbitant. He also said Agarwal should be allowed to do plantations at a nearby site and not on the same plot. Refusing to reduce the fine amount, the court, however, allowed him to do plantations in nearby areas.
In its report, CEC said 454 trees were illegally felled on the night of Sept 18 last year out of which 422 trees were on private land known as Dalmia Farm situated at Vrindavan Chatikara Road, and the remaining 32 trees were on the roadside strip adjoining this private land which was a protected forest.
Observing that the report revealed the shocking state of affairs and blatant violation of the SC’s order, the bench initiated contempt proceedings against Agarwal and asked CEC to suggest further measures to be taken against him.
The panel suggested that the forest department should recover the penalty due under the provisions of UP Protection of Trees Act, 1976, for this illegal felling and the department should also take punitive action against the land owner for felling 32 trees that were in the protected forest as per the provisions under the Indian Forest Act, 1972
