The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday, April 17, has imposed a penalty of INR 10 lakhs on the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) for seeking to cut more trees and attempting to overreach the violation of the court’s previous order in Aarey forest case.
Supreme Court further stated the amount will be deposited to the Chief Conservator of Forests.
In addition, the apex court, headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud, asks Mumbai Metro to comply with tree authority's decision of March 15, 2023 and raze 177 trees from the Aarey forest to develop a car shed.
The court held that Mumbai Metro must be penalised but public project can't be brought to a halt.
The SC granted the MMRCL two-weeks’ time to provide an amount of 10 lakhs to the conservator of forests.
During the hearing, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud asked: "How can the superintendent allow the felling of tress when there was a stay by this court."
In November last year, the top court had allowed MMRCL to pursue its application before the tree authority for the felling of 84 trees.
“We request the director of IIT Bombay to depute a team for the purpose of verifying compliance. A report should be submitted to this court in three weeks,” it added.
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