The Delhi High Court expressed its displeasure on Tuesday over the public works department (PWD) not complying with its directions pertaining to plantation of trees on the roadside and asked the agency’s engineer-in-chief to appear before it virtually.
Justice Jasmeet Singh said the latitude shown by the court is not its weakness and that judicial orders are required to be followed in their letter, spirit and intent.
“I have given you a long rope and the rope is coming to an end. We expect departments to follow court orders. If the department does not follow court orders, how will the society function?” the court asked.
It noted that on December 18 last year, it had expressed its “extreme displeasure” with the response of the authorities concerned pertaining to the implementation of the court’s orders for the greening of arterial roads and asked them to file an affidavit in this regard.
After being informed that around 400 trees planted along Ring Road died due to a lack of maintenance and rampant car parking, the court had directed the special secretaries of the PWD and forest department to file an affidavit, explaining why the trees were not looked after in spite of an assurance given to that effect.
“Despite the order, the PWD has not filed the affidavit. Let the engineer-in-chief join the proceedings on the next date of hearing through video-conference,” the court ordered on Tuesday.
Advocate Aditya N Prasad, court commissioner in the matter, said the authorities are not adhering to the court’s orders. He also said in spite of the setting aside of the pruning guidelines, a large number of trees were brutally pruned at Defence Colony and Panchsheel Enclave.
The court asked the forest department to file an affidavit with respect to the pruning undertaken in the two areas as well as the pre and post inspection of the site, and also show the permission granted for such an exercise.
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“What is happening? They have to understand the value of trees,” the judge said as he listed the matter for further hearing on March 6.
Last year, the court had set aside the guidelines allowing regular pruning of tree branches with a girth of up to 15.7 cm without a specific prior permission of the tree officer concerned and ordered that no pruning of trees would be permitted in Delhi except in accordance with the law.
It had also directed the plantation of at least 10,000 trees in the city by authorities by utilising the more than Rs 70 lakh deposited by defaulting litigants as costs in several matters.
The court commissioner had earlier claimed that there was gross dereliction in complying with the court’s directions, resulting in heavy loss and attrition of the planted trees that were procured from the funds in the “Green Delhi Account” and that around 400 trees planted along Ring Road, near South Extension, have died.
