Supreme Court of India. NEW DELHI: Observing that the act of cutting a large number of trees was worse than killing a human being, Supreme Court on Tuesday said no mercy should be shown to people who damage the environment and approved imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh for each illegally cut tree. Sending out a clear message that those indulging in illegal cutting of trees without approval from the authority concerned and damaging the environment must be dealt with an iron hand, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan rejected the plea of a man who had cut down 454 trees in the protected Taj Trapezium Zone.
SC order sets benchmark for fines in tree-felling cases The bench accepted the suggestion of senior advocate ADN Rao, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, that a clear message needed to be sent to offenders that the law and trees could not, and should not, be taken for granted. With its order, the court has set a benchmark on how much fine should be imposed in such cases. “No mercy in environmental case.
Felling a large number of trees is worse than killing a human. It will take at least 100 years minimum to again regenerate or recreate the green cover created by 454 trees which were blatantly cut without permission of this court though the embargo imposed by this court is right from the year 2015,” the bench said. The court accepted the report of the central empowered committee (CEC), which recommended a fine of Rs 1 lakh per tree for 454 trees which were .
