Punjab to keep new law on tree felling in abeyance after P&H High Court raises concerns

The Punjab government on Monday informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the Punjab Protection of Trees Act, 2026, will be kept in abeyance till the provisions of the law are reconsidered [Praneet Kaur v State of Punjab and Others]

A bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor had last week termed the law as draconian, noting that it permits felling of trees subject to payment of money. Such a law will destroy the State, the bench had said, while asking the State to reconsider the legislation.

Today, the State told the Court that it "will not proceed" under the new enactment and will abide by the guidelines of the Court. Further, the government said that they may reconsider the enactment in light of the Court decision.

The Court said that it will issue detailed guidelines with regard to the felling of trees in Punjab and Haryana. Last week, the Haryana government too had told the Court that it will re-examine the provisions of its draft legislation in accordance with court observations.

In December 2025, the Court had passed significant directions in a batch of public interest litigation petitions (PILs) primarily challenging the move to fell 251 trees in Mohali district. The Court then ordered that no tree shall be cut in Punjab without its prior permission until further orders.

Since then, a large number of applications were filed before the Court for permission to cut trees. The Court then extended its intervention to Haryana, considering that forest cover in both the States is almost at the bottom of the national figures.

"As per the India State of Forest Report, 2023, tree and forest cover over Punjab is 3.67% while for Haryana it is 3.65%, which are both drastically below the national average of 25.17% and far below the 33% benchmark envisaged under the National Forest Policy, 1988," the Court recently noted.

The new legislation, which allegedly removes the previous safeguards and permits tree cutting simply upon deposit of certain charges, then came to be challenged by way of an application in the pending matter.

Last week, the Court was informed that executive officers of local urban bodies have been declared as tree protection officers despite the fact that they themselves seek permission for the cutting of trees in most cases.

Today, the government said no permissions have been granted under the new enactment till date.