SC catches DDA protecting higher-ups on tree felling in Ridge area

New Delhi: The Supreme Court castigated the Delhi Development Authority on Wednesday for not providing information regarding the visit of Lt Governor VK Saxena to the Ridge area where 1,100 trees were cut and said it was protecting higher-ups and blaming subordinate officers.

A vacation bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said it was "absolute recklessness" on the part of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) that it could not find a simple document indicating Saxena's visit on February 3.

"This is absolute recklessness on your part. You cannot find a simple document. Nothing has been done, no meeting of the officers has been called. I really hope that the vice-chairman is taking the matter seriously. We have all the doubts in the way things are done. We see that the first part of the e-mail which talks about the L-G being visited is correct…," the bench said.

"When the e-mail says that lieutenant governor has visited and ordered the cutting of trees, was it not the function of the DDA to look into it? The object of the committee is only to save and protect the higher-ups and blame the lower officers like junior engineer or executive engineer," it added.

The top court was hearing a contempt plea filed by Delhi resident Bindu Kapurea, alleging that trees were cut despite a March 4 court order denying permission to the DDA and the fact that the trees had been cut was suppressed from the court.

At the outset, senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the DDA vice-chairman, informed the court that the agency was trying to find the records and the intention was that no incorrect information was given to the bench.

Singh submitted that Saxena had visited the hospital for central armed paramilitary forces and did not visit the site concerned.

He sought time from the top court to submit the information.

The apex court bench then said, "The DDA could not obtain information on the record of the site visit of the Hon'ble L-G on February 3, 2024. The learned senior counsel for DDA seeks time. We don't think that the request for time to find such simple information is bona fide." When the court enquired about the officer present at the time of Saxena's visit, Singh said his name was Ashok Kumar Gupta, a member engineering.

The apex court then passed an order.

"We direct Ashok Kumar Gupta to file a detailed affidavit as to what exactly transpired during the visit of the L-G. He will also state if any directions were orally issued by the L-G. We make it clear that Mr Gupta files it not in the capacity of a DDA officer but as an officer of this court," it said.

The top court also expressed surprise that the authorities could not locate the timber from the trees cut at the site.

"When we made a query about the timber felled, the officer of the DDA had no response … We are 100 per cent sure that the timber must be taken away by the contractor," the bench said orally.

Observing that brazen acts of tree felling in the national capital cannot be brushed aside lightly, the top court on Monday sought a "clear" statement from the DDA vice-chairman about whether trees in the Ridge area were cut on the orders of the lieutenant governor without its permission.

The apex court had earlier issued a notice of criminal contempt against DDA vice-chairman Subhasish Panda for allowing the large-scale felling of trees in the southern Ridge's Satbari area to build a road from Chhattarpur to South Asian University.

It had expressed displeasure over a "misleading" affidavit filed by the vice chairman and presenting "wrong facts" before the court. It also directed the planting of 100 trees for each tree felled by the DDA.