Plea against assistant engineers assessing value of trees: Kerala HC seeks govt’s views

Kochi: High court has sought an affidavit from the state govt in a plea challenging the order that replaced the assistant conservator of forests (social forestry) with assistant engineers of local self-govt institutions to assess the value of trees in public places before granting permission to cut them.A bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V M Syam Kumar issued the directive while considering a petition by Sathish Kumar of Mannarkad in Palakkad district. The govt order that replaced the assistant conservator of forests was issued on Dec 13, 2024.Earlier, in 2010, the govt had issued an order constituting committees to decide whether trees on public land should be felled or retained, with the objective of serving the larger interests of society and conserving tree growth on public land.

As per that order, the district panchayat president, municipal corporation mayor or municipality chairperson, within whose jurisdiction the public land is situated, was designated as the chairperson of the respective tree committee.

The assistant conservator of forests (social forestry) of the concerned district was designated as the convenor and was also responsible for preparing the valuation report.The petitioner contended that the 2010 order was subsequently upheld by high court.

However, in 2024, the govt amended the order by replacing the assistant conservator of forests with the civic body secretary as the convenor of the committee. The assistant conservator of forests was made only a tree committee member, without any powers. Similarly, the responsibility of valuing the trees was vested in the assistant engineers of local self-govt institutions.

This amendment is now under challenge.While considering the petition, HC observed that the valuation of trees on govt land should be undertaken by a person with sufficient knowledge and expertise in the field. It noted that an assistant engineer of local self-govt department may not be the appropriate or competent authority to undertake such valuation, as such officers may lack the requisite domain knowledge and expertise.Meanwhile, the govt pleader sought additional time to submit justification for the amendment, and HC adjourned the matter to Feb 26. It further clarified that the pendency of the case shall not stand in the way of the officers reconsidering the decision.