High Court convicts 3 PWD officers and a cop for damaging 80 trees in Delhi

About 80 trees at Vikas Marg in Delhi were extensively damaged by the PWD officials, who breached the judicial mandate, the Delhi High Court noted

Three PWD officers and a police officer have been convicted by the Delhi High Court in a contempt of court case for damaging 80 trees at Vikas Marg during construction work last year. The forest department said that 80 trees were damaged while three were cut without permission from the authority. 

The trees at Vikas Marg were extensively damaged by the PWD officials, who breached the judicial mandate, the court noted.

Delhi High Court Justice Najmi Waziri on June 7 while sentencing the officers said, “The PWD has undertaken construction activities involving deep trenching within one metre radius from the trunk of the trees using heavy machinery, JCB/earth moving machine on Vikas Marg near Swasthya Vihar in East Delhi. No permission has been taken from the tree officer or the forest department for cutting the trees or carrying out the construction work, which evidently was in breach of the court’s direction."

The PWD officials should have stopped “victimisation” and cutting down of the trees, the Delhi HC said.

The Delhi HC bench said, “There cannot be any concretisation of land within a radius of 6 inches around the tree trunks in terms of the directions of this court, National Green Tribunal (NGT) as well as circulars issued on 01.03.2021 by PWD. All three PWD officers have chosen not to comply with the court’s orders, NGT orders, and indeed of PWD’s own circulars."

“Fact remains that each of the officers named above is complicit in some measure or the other of having breached the court’s directions. Accordingly, they are held guilty of committing contempt of court," Justice Waziri said, and listed the matter on July 7 for further consideration.