Dehradun Expressway: Supreme Court stays felling of trees till November 26, sends matter back to NGT

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed felling of 11,000 tress for the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway till November 26 while sending the matter back to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to decide the issue afresh on merits (Citizens of Green Doon v UOI)..The judgment was passed by a Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, on a plea by NGO Citizens for Green Doon which has opposed the proposed felling of around 11,000 trees for the project.The top court also set aside an order of the NGT dated October 6, 2021 which had declined to entertain the plea by the petitioner on the ground of maintainability. "We are at this stage desisting from making any observation on the merits, so as not to preclude the rights and contentions of the parties. However, in order to allow the appellant to file an appeal before the Tribunal, in terms of the liberty granted above, there shall be an interim order restraining the further felling of trees, which shall remain in operation until 26 November 2021," the judgment said.The petitioner had approached the NGT under Section 14 of the NGT Act which empowers NGT to settle disputes involving substantial question relating to environment where such question arises out of the implementation of the laws specified in Schedule I of the Act.The NGT had held that the petitioner should instead have invoked the appellate jurisdiction of the tribunal under Section 16 under which an order of State government under the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 can be challenged. Senior Advocate Anitha Shenoy, appearing for the petitioner, contended that since no such order was placed by the State government in public domain, the petitioner was not able to tale recourse to appellate remedy under Section 16..While Shenoy claimed non-disclosure, Attorney General for India (AG) KK Venugopal stated that stages 1 and 2 clearances have recorded the permission to fell 8,588 trees for the purpose of road widening. .Venugopal also showed a four-minute-long video that highlighted the steps being taken to avoid conflicts between humans and wildlife which includes construction of 12-kilometer long elevated road that would create an underpass for the wildlife to move around. He urged the court to not grant a stay as it will be against public interest. "Wildlife was coming into conflict because 12 km of road was in the forest area. The animals would go under the elevated highway so they don't come into conflict with the vehicles. A tunnel was made. All this being challenged where public will be benefitted. If stay is granted, it will put the project in limbo. We have spent a thousand crores on the elevated highway," the AG said..The Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, however, said that the NGT erred in dismissing the petition without hearing it on merits. It, therefore, directed the NGT to hear the petitioner on merits and decide the case, while granting stay till November 26.Further, the Bench also asked the petitioners to make a list of all their contentions and instructed the NGT to give a reasoned order addressing all the arguments. .[Read Judgment]