Restore Karnal green belt in 3 months, Supreme Court directs Haryana

NEW DELHI: Taking strong exception to Haryana govt cutting 40 fully grown trees in a green belt to build a road to make the office of BJP in Karnal accessible, Supreme Court on Wednesday directed it to restore the green belt within three months after the govt and Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) failed to convince it of the legality of the action.A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan noted in its order that the explanation given by the state and HSVP was merely an "eyewash to mislead the court".The state authority claimed that the trees were felled to widen the road. Additional solicitor general Vikramjit Banerjee, appearing for HSVP, told the bench that Resident Welfare Association of Section 9 was also consulted and its consent taken prior to the felling of trees.

He further pointed out that compulsory plantation had been done by the authority.But the bench was not convinced and asked how the green belt could be damaged for widening roads. Though the petitioner had also challenged the allotment of land to BJP to build an office there, the bench said it cannot examine the allotment which was done way back in 2018.The court, however, directed the authority to restore the green belt and made clear that the widening of road to BJP office had to be undone.

It granted the authority three months to do the needful and file a report with photographs of the site.The court passed the order on a petition filed by a 1971-War veteran, challenging the dismissal of his plea by the high court on May 3 against the allotment of a plot in a residential area of Karnal to BJP and the subsequent construction of an access road for its office by uprooting 40 fully grown trees situated in a green area.Rajput (79) said he was wounded in the war and a decorated soldier, having been awarded the Vir Chakra for gallantry. He had purchased a plot measuring 1,000 square yards in Sector 9, Urban Estate, Karnal, from Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), then the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).