Supreme Court Rap For BJP’s Haryana Government , Pulled Up For Cutting 40 Fully Grown Trees For Party’s Office In Karnal

Picture : ANI/X

Terming it “pathetic”, the Supreme Court pulled up the Haryana government and its urban development body on Wednesday for the uprooting of 40 fully-grown trees to build an accessible road to a newly-constructed Bharatiya Janata Party office in Karnal, and sought a remedial action plan, warning them of being “taken to task”.

According to media reports, A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan was hearing a petition filed by a 1971-war veteran, challenging the dismissal of his plea at the high court on May 3 against the arbitrary allocation of a plot in a residential area to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Haryana and later, the construction of an access road for its office by uprooting 40 fully-grown trees situated in a green area.

“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 bench asked Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee, who appeared in the matter for the Haryana government.

Banerjee said the required permissions were taken for allotment and all green norms followed. He assured the court that trees will be planted in proportion to the number of trees felled.

The bench asked Banerjee who will compensate for the loss of the 40 fully-grown trees. It also asked him to come up with a good explanation, warning that the state and its instrumentalities are bound to be “taken to task”.

“We are warning you that all of you will be taken to task for this,” the bench told Banerjee and other lawyers appearing for different bodies of the state government.

The court passed the order after hearing advocate Bhupender Pratap Singh, who appeared in the matter for Col (retd) Davinder Singh Rajput, a 1971-war veteran.