New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday, June 26, once again insisted that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) clarify whether it was Delhi lieutenant governor, V.K. Saxena, who ordered the felling of 1100 trees in the capital’s ridge forest.
“You are only protecting the higher-ups and blaming the lower officers… If the highest authority has done something wrong, there is nothing wrong in telling to the court…the truth must come out,” the Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said, according to Livelaw.in.
In an earlier hearing on Monday, June 24, the Bench had taken cognisance of emails sent by the executive engineer of DDA to a contractor, referring to the directions issued by the Delhi LG to cut the trees after he visited the site.
“This is such a brazen act,” the bench had said. “Two documents placed on record clearly say that it was lieutenant governor.”
During Monday’s hearing, the Bench had even said that it was obvious that the order to cut the trees was passed after the site visit of the lieutenant governor.
When the matter again came before the bench on Wednesday, the court insisted that the DDA come clean. To this, the counsel for DDA, Maninder Singh, said there were no records to that effect, and sought one more week to locate records on the matter.
“You are put to notice and you cannot even find this simple thing? This is not correct, we do not appreciate this. We are not happy with this that you cannot get simple information on the record available,” the court said, unhappy about the DDA response.
Continuing further, the court said, “When the email says that LG has visited, was it not the function of the DDA to look into it? You are only protecting the higher-ups and blaming the lower officers.”
However, DDA’s counsel said that the LG’s visit was to another site and not the site where the trees were cut.
The court then said, “The DDA could not obtain information on the record of the site visit of the Hon’ble LG on 3rd Feb, 2024. is available with the DDA. The learned Sr Counsel for DDA seeks time. We don’t think that the request for time to find such simple information is bona fide.”
The court nevertheless granted one week to DDA to furnish the information.
When the counsel referred to a DDA officer named Ashok Kumar Gupta, as someone who was present at the site when the LG visit took place, the court issued directions to him as well. “We therefore direct Ashok Kumar Gupta to file affidavit as to what exactly transpired and if any directions were issued by the Hon’ble LG. We make it clear that Mr Gupta files it not in the capacity of a DDA officer but as an officer of this Court,” the court said.
The court also expressed surprise over authorities not being able to locate the timber from the trees that were felled.
“When we made a query about the timber felled, the officer of DDA had no response…We are 100% sure that the timber must be taken away by the contractor,” Justice Oka orally said. “We are 100% sure that this is the tip of the iceberg, this must have happened in several cases, and trees must have been felled. That’s why we are taking a strong view so that the message goes.”