Transplantation of every felled Trees is mandatory for Local bodies 

After having a plain reading of The Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection & Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, I found that transplanting of every felled Tree is mandatory for Tree Authority of that Local body and this duty has nothing to do with the duty of a man who has a responsibility of planting another Tree in lieu of Tree that he proposes to fell.

I request my friends to keep watch in their locality as if any notice been put up on the Trees for being cut. Also, this is to inform that how the local bodies play foul. I have caught red handed a municipal official pasting notices on Trees, taking photograph and immediately removing the notice. You will never know and the green will disappear in the midnight. To check this, a Letter may be sent to the Chairman of Tree Authority who is ususally the Head of the Local Body, objecting to any proposal of Tree removal in your area. Ask them to give you a personal hearing before they proceed to grant permission for removal of any Tree. At hearing, tell them to record your objections in writing.

There is one Tree Authority in every Local Body.

A PIL has been filed by Awwaz Foundation in Bombay High Court in this matter.

Pls find my Letter to the Chairman of Tree Authority in this regard.

Sandeep.
Mumbai.

Date: 01.07.08
From,
Sandeep Jalan
C/O Janhit Manch,
Kuber Bhuvan, Bajaj Rd, Vile Parle West
Mumbai-56
Cell-09322671212; Email- commonlaw12321@yahoo.co.in

To,
Shri Jairaj Phatak sab,
The Hon.Chairman of the Tree Authority, and
The Hon.Commissioner,
Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai,
Head Quarter,
Mumbai C.S.T.- 400 001.

Subject: Strict implementation of section 7(e) of The Trees Act, 1975, which mandates that every felled tree must and shall be transplanted by Tree Authority.

Dear Sir,

With reference to above, most respectfully, I crave leave to state few things.

Having a plain reading of section 7 (e) of The Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection & Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, whether read with Preamble of the Act or not, it can safely be said that every felled Tree has to be transplanted.

Section 8(5) prescribes that where a Tree Authority grant permission for feeling of a Tree on an Application so received, the Applicant shall Plant another Tree and or abide by other provisions as stated in the Act. That been the case, the Tree Authority is not in anyway absolved of its responsibility of transplanting the felled Tree.

The language of Section 7 (e) is pretty clear that Tree Authority shall ensure transplanting of every felled tree and this duty has nothing to do with the Applicant planting another Tree in lieu of felled Tree. [Section 7(e)- Notwithstanding anything contained in the relevant Act or in any other law for the time being in force, and subject to any special or general directions given by the State Govt, the Tree Authority SHALL be responsible for- transplanting of Trees necessitated  by construction of new roads or widening of existing roads or for safeguarding danger to life or property.]

Though it is improper to allege uninformed, informal sources suggests that very few felled Trees are transplanted. This is a prima facie violation of the plain letter of the law.

Sir,
In the present Constitutional  democratic  set  up  we  all  Indians  live  in,  the  Laws  made  and  passed  by  the  Parliament  and  the  State  Legislatures  represents  the  wishes  and  ambitions  of  we  the  people  of  India.

Sir,
All  laws, of  any  nature,  whether  Prohibitive  or  Regulatory  or  laws  conferring  Rights  and  Privileges,  has  only  one  objective  to  serve  and  that  is  creation  of  a  better  environment  for  everyone,  individually  and  collectively,  in  an  ever  evolving  society.

Sir,
Every  letter  of  the  law   so  exist  is  the  collective  wisdom  of  the  Representatives  of  the  people. It is presumed that legislatures do not waste words and there is no surplussage in Statutes.

Sir,
All  Statutes  or  Laws  so  made  and  passed  by  Legislatures  is  to  remedy  the  ill  that  has  plagued  the  society.

Sir,
All  Statutes  comes  into  being  with  some  policy  and  objective  to  be  achieved.

Sir,
Every  statutory  provision  in  a  Statute  comes  into  being  after  due  deliberation  and  every  letter  of  the  law  is  employed  with  great  caution  and  care;  and  with  some  purpose.

Sir,
It  is  even  not  open  to  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  High  Courts  to  act  or  give  judgments  in  deviation  from  established  laws.

Sir,
It  may  be  beyond  one’s  wisdom  to  anticipate  nor  it  is  necessary  for  one  to  outline  the  consequences  that  may  occasion  due  to  patent  violation  of  a  statutory  provision,  for  the  consequences  have  already  been  deliberated  at  the  time  of  passing  of  the  statutory  provision.  It  is  suffice  if  one  merely  seeks  the  bare  observance  of  the  letter  of  the  law  in  the  spirit  inherent  in  the  letter  of  the  law  and  preamble  of  the  Statute.

Sir,
As  everyone  says  that  we  live  in  a  Rule  of  Law  society.  What  we  really  mean  by  Rule  of  Law  is  that  the  Law  which  is  established  must  be  observed  in  all  the  circumstances  except  in  cases  where  the  Law  itself  is  absurd  and  or  arbitrary.

Sir,
Every  letter  of  the  Law  must  be  observed  with  due  respect,  unless  the  same  is  declared  by  the  competent  Court  of  Jurisdiction  as  manifestly  arbitrary  and  or  absurd.

Therefore, in the light of submissions so made here, the applicant earnestly request the Hon. Chairman of Tree Authority to ensure that it should become the practice of Tree Authority that in cases where, after following the due process of law, the Tree Authority grant permission for felling a Tree, the Tree so felled must be transplanted. In the nutshell, every felled Tree must be transplanted.

Thanking You,

Sandeep Jalan.[B Com, LLB]

Copy to,

The Superintendent of Gardens,
Jeejamata Udyaan, Byculla, Mumbai.