Shiv Shankar Agarwal had unlawfully cut down 454 trees on private land in Mathura-Vrindavan’s Dalmia Farms, out of which 32 were located on a roadside strip of protected forest land.
The bench, led by Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, rejected any leniency in this case, despite Agarwal admitting his error and seeking a reduction in the fine.
The top court further said that damaging the environment is as grave as harming human life.
“There should be no mercy in environmental case. Felling a large number of trees is worse than killing a human,” the bench said.
The apex court noted that it could take over a century to regenerate the green cover lost through such reckless actions. “ 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,” it said. The fine of Rs 1 lakh per tree was set after considering the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which had investigated the incident.
In addition to the fine, the SC also authorised Agarwal to plant trees at a nearby location as part of his restitution.
Contempt proceedings were also initiated against him for violating the Supreme Court’s 2015 order, which had imposed restrictions on tree felling in the region without prior approval.
This ruling sets a crucial precedent for future environmental cases which the SC said should not be dealt with mercy.
(With PTI & TOI inputs)
