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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court, recently, granted permission for the transplantation of trees to facilitate the Supreme Court expansion project. 

The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) had filed an application before the court seeking permission to transplant 26 trees to facilitate the expansion of the Supreme Court Complex. The proposed project aimed to create additional courtrooms, including a dedicated Constitutional Court, as well as chambers for judges and essential facilities for lawyers and litigants.

According to the application, all 26 trees were proposed to be transplanted within the Supreme Court premises. The affidavit submitted by CPWD stated that 16 of these trees would be relocated along the periphery of the garden between Gates A and B, while the remaining 10 trees would be transplanted near the corner of the Administrative Buildings Complex, adjacent to Gate No. 1.

In addition to the transplantation, the applicant had already undertaken a compensatory plantation of 260 trees at Sundar Nursery. Considering the significance of the project, the court allowed the application subject to the following conditions:
"I. The applicant shall file an affidavit of a responsible officer indicating the status of the 26 transplanted trees that they are being taken care of along with the 260 trees planted at the Sundar Nursery. The said affidavit shall be filed within 2 weeks from the date of the release of this order. 
II. The applicant shall furnish photographs after the transplantation of 26 trees has been done, so that the learned Amici curiae can see the upkeep and maintenance of the said trees. 
III. The applicant shall also obtain necessary permissions from the concerned municipal authorities to see if more trees can be planted on the road leading to the Hon’ble Supreme Court as the same was enveloped with fully grown trees till some years ago (before the Sundar Nagar Road expansion). 
IV. The concerned tree Officer shall depute a responsible officer at the time of pruning of the trees to ensure that the same is done in a scientific manner to ensure the rejuvenation of those 26 trees, as the past transplantation of trees shows that there is heavy pruning of trees which results in the trees becoming mere logs of wood incapable of rejuvenating. The DCF shall also file an affidavit in compliance of the same. 
V. The applicant shall also file a site specific transplantation report. 
VI. Every year, the said responsible officer of the CPWD shall file an affidavit indicating the survival rate and the health of the transplanted as well as the compensatory plantation done".

Further, the court directed the Chief Secretary of the Delhi Government to file an affidavit regarding the status of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) referred to in previous orders dated 06.03.2024, 01.07.2024, 19.07.2024, 02.08.2024, and 20.12.2024. This affidavit was to be submitted within two weeks from the date of the order. The court also noted that the earlier order granting permission for transplantation did not qualify as a speaking order. To address this, the court directed “Tree Officer shall pass a fresh speaking order within 2 weeks from the date of the release of this order in supercession of the order dated 20.01.2025”. 

Accordingly, the application was allowed subject to the above-stated conditions.

For Petitioner: Advocates Asmita Singh, Anirudh Anand, Tushar Nain, Punish Handa, Piyush Sharma, Pratyush Jain and Eish Kesarwani
For Respondent: Special Public Counsels Farman Ali and Avshreya Pratap Singh Rudy with Advocates Usha Jamnal, Harshita Chaturvedi, Siddhant Nagar, Sanjay Kumar Pathak, SK Jha, MS Akhtar, Mayank Madhu, SS Siddiqui, Sarosh Ali, Manish K Bishnoi, Khubaib Shakeel, Sudhir Mishra, Petel Chandhiok, and Vaishali Gupta
Amicus Curiae: Senior Advocates Gautam Narayan and Ankit Jain
Case Title: Bhavreen Kandhari v Shri C. D. Singh