SC directs state to restore green land to its original state in 90 days

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Haryana Government’s urban development authorities to restore a green area in Karnal to its original state, after 40 fully grown trees were uprooted to build an access road to a newly constructed BJP office. The top court gave three months to the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) and the Karnal Municipal Corporation to complete the restoration.

A Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan said it agreed with submissions made by advocate Bhupender Pratap Singh, appearing for a 1971 war veteran, that the trees were felled illegally to create the approach road. The court expressed dissatisfaction with the Haryana Government’s defence.

The Bench, however, refused to examine the broader issue of the legality of allotting land in a residential colony — located along the national highway — to the BJP. “It is too late to go into that question,” the court observed.

Appearing for the state, Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee insisted that “all required permissions were taken for allotment and all green norms were followed.” He assured the court that “trees would be planted in proportion to the number of trees that were felled for the approach road.”

The Bench had earlier come down heavily on the government. On November 26, it remarked, “It is pathetic that you uprooted fully grown trees. Why and what happened to these trees? What is your explanation for this? Why can’t you get the office of the political party shifted to some other location?”

The court was hearing a petition filed by Col Davinder Singh Rajput (retd), a 1971 war veteran and Vir Chakra awardee, who challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s May 3 order dismissing his plea against the alleged arbitrary allotment of land to the BJP in Sector 9, Urban Estate, Karnal. Rajput had purchased a 1,000 sq yd plot from the HSVP (then HUDA) and claimed the adjoining land had been allotted “in complete violation” of the Haryana Urban Development Act, 1977 and town planning policies.

He argued that institutional or social sites must be located on at least a 24-metre-wide road, a requirement he said the state ignored. Advocate Singh told the Bench that the high court “did not appreciate the relevant legislative provisions” and upheld actions that violated his client’s rights.

Earlier, on October 15, the Supreme Court had ordered status quo on the disputed development and summoned the HSVP’s chief administrator with full records, directing him to explain why 40-plus trees were felled and what happened to them.