MP High Court Refuses To Halt Indore Metro Tree Felling, Orders Safeguards For Roosting Birds

The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Indore has refused to stop the felling of trees at Rani Sarai, the S.P. Office premises, for an underground metro station, holding that an earlier ruling on the metro alignment binds it. The court laid down safeguards to protect the thousands of birds that roost on those trees.

A Division Bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Jai Kumar Pillai passed the order on October 22, disposing of a public interest litigation filed by Priyanshu Jain under Article 226 of the Constitution.

The petitioner argued that the station would require felling more than 150 trees holding nests of about 1,000 birds, which he described as their only habitat left in Indore. He sought a bar on cutting the trees and enforcement of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The Nature Volunteers’ Society, through its president Padma Shri Bhalchandra Mondhe, joined as intervenor.

Advocates Lavesh Saraswat and Shivendra Singh Parihar appeared for the petitioner, and Advocate Abhinav Dhanodkar for the intervenor. They submitted that parakeets, protected under the 1972 Act, roost on these trees, and that land around Regal Talkies, Gandhi Hall and Pritamlal Dua Sabhagrah could be used instead.

Opposing the plea, Advocate Amol Shrivastava, for M.P. Metro Rail Corporation Limited, said the alignment was already sanctioned and all Forest Department permissions had been obtained. He said the station, already shortened from the standard 180 metres to 150 metres, could not be moved as no other free land was available, and that 2,500 trees would be planted against the 182 to be cut. Government Advocate Pradyumna Kibe appeared for the State, and Advocate Kamakshi Singh for the Indore Municipal Corporation.

The corporation argued that the petition was not maintainable, since the alignment had been upheld in Raj Lakshmi Foundation vs State of Madhya Pradesh, decided by a coordinate bench on May 3, 2024. The petitioner claimed unawareness of that case.

The bench sided with the corporation. It held that shifting the station would alter the alignment, observing that “what cannot be done directly can also not be done indirectly.” The earlier order, it said, “cannot be deviated in any manner, for whatsoever be the reasons”.

The court criticised the respondents for not disclosing the earlier decision sooner, saying it would have spared the parties “a false hope” because the petitioners “had already lost this petition even before it was filed.”

The bench was not unmoved by the birds’ plight. During a September 29 site visit, it saw thousands of birds, mostly parrots, though most came only to roost in the evening and only a few had nested. “There is no denying the fact that if the trees are cut, the birds would certainly lose their place to rest, which we also do not want in any manner,” it said, adding that it was unable to interfere on the principle of stare decisis.

To cause “the least amount of inconvenience” to the birds, the court issued directions. Trees must not be cut all at once or randomly, but in a phased manner under the supervision of at least two ornithologists, because felling them together would cause “extreme distress and shock to the birds, from which they may never recover”.

Experts must account for nests, eggs and chicks while pruning, with a wildlife rescue team carrying nets and medical kits on site. The same type of trees must be planted nearby, space permitting, so they are available for roosting when the project is completed.

The respondents must honour their undertaking to plant 2,500 trees, file a report within one year, and submit yearly reports with Google images every April. Each bird expert is to be paid Rs 10,000.

Acknowledging that this “would be a painful process for all the parties concerned, especially the bird lovers”, the bench called it “the best that we can think of” to safeguard the birds. The petition was dismissed with these directions.

Case Title: Priyanshu Jain vs. Union of India and Others

Order Date: October 22, 2026

Bench: Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Jai Kumar Pillai