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The matter pertains to the issue of the felling of a large number of trees for the purpose of constructing a metro car shed near Aarey Forest area.
In an application seeking permission to cut additional trees of the Aarey Forest, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta recently submitted before the Supreme Court that the petitioner before it, opposing the said application should be asked to compensate the public exchequer for the delay caused to the government's projects.
"They should deposit INR 5.87 crores that is the cost of delay per day. If my application is being allowed, let them compensate the public exchange", SG Mehta told a CJI Chandrachud led bench.
On hearing this, Senior Advocate CU Singh told the bench that such stances should not be maintained by the SG.
Appearing for Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited, SG Mehta told the court that while permission was granted to cut 84 extra trees, their request had altered a bit.
"Four monsoons season have passed since the last survey of the land. Additional trees have come up. 124 have to be cut and 54 can be replanted. We moved the Tree Authority, which granted us the permission. A delay is being caused by the petitioner. They should be asked to deposit the cost per day...", the SG said.
The bench was hearing a matter in which, suo-moto cognizance had been taken by the court on a letter written by a law student, Rishav Ranjan, to the then Chief Justice of India, seeking a stay on the cutting of trees for the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited's car shed located on 33 hectares land in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony.
The letter written by the law student had stated, "The site is on the bank of the Mithi River, with several channels and tributaries flowing into it, and construction for the 'polluting industry' could flood Mumbai". The court had accepted the letter as Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and set up the special Bench.
The Supreme Court in 2019, had directed the State of Maharashtra not to cut any further trees in Aarey and to maintain the status quo. Court had however clarified that there it had not stayed the construction of the metro car shed project, and the status quo pertained only to the further felling of trees.
Case Title: IN RE FELLING OF TREES IN AAREY FOREST
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