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The Supreme Court has passed an order yesterday staying the felling of trees for the improvement and expansion of National Highway-72 from Delhi to Dehradun till November 26 while directing the National Green Tribunal to decide the said action afresh.

The order was passed by a bench comprising of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath.

Last week a Justice DY Chandrachud-led bench while hearing the appeal against the NGT order dismissing the original application filed by Citizens for Green Doon had remarked that the Supreme Court gets to read very unsatisfactory orders of the NGT in appeal and that the tribunal should apply its mind.

Citizens for Green Doon, an NGO had filed an appeal against the order of the NGT, challenging the Stage-I Forest Clearance and Wildlife Clearance granted for the improvement and expansion of National Highway-72 from Delhi to Dehradun.

Senior Advocate Anita Shenoy, appearing for the NGO had stated that the case had nothing to with the expansion of roads of the army (referring to the previous case which was filed by the same petitioner) and that it pertained solely to a 19 Kms stretch between Ganeshpur and Dehradun.

She had further submitted that the roads stretched from Rajaji Tiger park to Terai Park Landscape and the forest was home to some of the most endangered species.

The Attorney General appearing for the Union, had also informed the Court that both Stage-I and Stage-II permissions had been granted and that a public notice was uploaded in a different website that the appellants were not aware of.

Justice Chandrachud had then asked the Attorney General if he can remand the matter back to the NGT. To this, the AG had then replied that remanding the matter would lead to another round of litigation and that the court could hear the matter and dispose it off. 

After hearing the parties, the bench directed the AG to circulate the documents available with him to the appellants and that they will hear and dispose the matter on Tuesday.