Delhi High Court orders two cops to plant 100 trees for getting into altercation with lawyer

The Delhi High Court recently directed two cops to plant 100 saplings after they got into an altercation with a lawyer [New Delhi Nature Society v. Shri Vinay Sheel Saxena & Ors.]..The Court also ordered the Delhi police to sensitise its personnel, all the way to the ranks of the beat constable, on the importance of tree conservation.“Let 100 fruit bearing trees like Pilkhan, Jamun, Amaltas, Goolar, Kat-hal, Badh, Banyan, Kadamb, Kala Sirus, Safed Sirus, Papri and Maulsari, etc., be planted at the Delhi Armed Police Parade Ground, Kingsway Camp, Delhi by the said police officers. Each tree shall have a minimum nursery life of three years and a height of at least 10 feet,” the Court's order stated..Justice Najmi Waziri proceeded to discharge the police officers concerned from the contempt proceedings pending before the Court, after accepting their explanation and since contempt notice had not yet been issued to them..The incident drew the Court's attention in the course of hearing a contempt case initiated in 2020 against officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), involving concerns about damage to trees in the course of civil works undertaken by them. Advocate Aditya N Prasad told the Court that the altercation took place after he informed the two police officials about the orders of the court to ensure that trees are protected while carrying out construction works. The construction works in question were allowed to be carried out despite this, he submitted. Additional Standing Counsel Satyakam submitted that the two officials had expressed their “sincere regret” over the episode and were willing to tender an apology. He further stated that the men were duty-bound to maintain law and order and had no intention to commit contempt of the directions of the Court nor did they hold any ill-will towards Prasad. The Deputy Commissioner of Police had cautioned the two men, he added..Senior Advocate N Hariharan, who appeared as the amicus curiae, urged the Court to close the matter in view of the apology, but suggested that the officials may be fastened with some form of social work. In view of this submission, the Court directed,“To obviate repeat of such undesirable altercations with lawyers and public-spirited citizens, Delhi Police shall circulate copies of this order to its entire network, right upto the Beat Constable level, so as to sensitise the police personnel of their duty to protect trees and to render prompt assistance to the Tree Officer under section 20 of the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994."The 2020 contempt case pertained to damage of trees and vegetation due to ongoing concretisation work carried out by the PWD in the various parts of the city.The Court had earlier ordered authorities such as PWD, Delhi Development Authority, and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) to install reflective bollards for motorists and pedestrians around the trees to “safeguard their immutable breathing space”. The matter will again be heard on July 7..Advocates Aditya N Prasad and Harsh Vardhan represented the petitioner. Advocates Shadan Farasat, Anupam Srivastava, Dhairya Gupta and Mreganka Kukreja appeared for GNCTD.Advocates Tushar Sannu, Devvrat Tiwari and Abhishek Singh appeared for the NDMC.Senior Advocate N Hariharan appeared as amicus curiae. Advocates Punya Rekha Angara, Siddharth Yadav, Prateek Bhalla, Sharian Mukherji and Mohammad Qasim appeared for other respondents. Advocate Satyakam appeared for the police officials..[Read Order]