The same case is in two benches in the Supreme Court, DDA is also doing wonders! One is saying something and the other is saying something else

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has taken a U-turn in the Supreme Court in the matter of felling of trees for the road widening project for the Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS). Earlier, the DDA had admitted in the Supreme Court that felling of trees without permission was wrong, but now it has taken a completely different stand in the apex court. It has sought permission to complete the project, calling it of national importance.

What is the matter?
In fact, the DDA had cut down 174 trees in non-forest land and 468 trees in forest land without taking the necessary permission for road widening for CAPFIMS. After this, the Supreme Court had issued a contempt notice to the DDA. The bench headed by Justice Abhay S Oka had reprimanded the Delhi government and said that it had no right to give permission to cut trees.

After this, DDA Vice President Subhashish Panda had filed an affidavit on May 15 and apologized unconditionally to the court. He had said that DDA will restore the land to its original state where the trees were cut. He had also assured the Supreme Court that new trees will be planted in place of the cut trees. Wherever possible, more trees will be planted. Panda had also told the court that departmental action has been initiated against the site engineers.

However, now the DDA has presented its stand before the second bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice BR Gavai, saying that this project is of national importance and road widening should be allowed for it. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing on behalf of the DDA, said that the project of setting up CAPFIMS is of national importance and road widening is necessary for it.

First they were apologizing, now they are explaining why this project is important!
The DDA, which had sought an apology from Justice Oka's bench, argued before Justice Gavai's bench that the project was of national importance. Its counsel Vikas Singh said Rs 2,200 crore had been spent on the project and the absence of a 24-metre road would cause problems in movement across the area. “They (DDA) also say that there is a proposal to set up a medical college at CAPFIMS. But CAPFIMS cannot be made operational due to the absence of a road. Therefore, they requested this bench to allow access to CAPFIMS in the larger public interest,” he told the court.

However, senior advocate Gopal Shankarnarayanan strongly opposed his argument. He told the bench that a road already exists there. The records presented in the court show that the law and court orders have been flouted by various authorities in the matter of felling of trees. The DDA had first filed an application for permission to cut the trees in February and the matter came up for hearing before a bench headed by Justice Oka on March 4.

The trees had been cut, DDA hid the matter from the Supreme Court
The bench had rejected the DDA's plea and asked it to reconsider the proposal. According to the DDA's affidavit, the felling of trees began on February 16 and continued for 10 days. The records show that the felling of trees took place before the hearing in the court on March 4 and even on that day, the court was kept in the dark about it.

When these facts came to light, the court initiated contempt proceedings against Panda. On April 24, another bench headed by Justice Gavai also initiated contempt proceedings against the DDA for cutting trees and constructing a road in contempt of the order passed by the Supreme Court on February 8, 2023.