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2023 Supreme(SC) 878

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
B.R. Gavai, Vikram Nath, JJ.
In Re : T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad – Appellant
Versus
Union of India & Ors. – Respondents
Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 202 of 1995
Decided On : 08-02-2023

Advocates Appeared:
Mr. Harish N. Salve, Sr. Advocate, [A.C.] (N.P.), Ms. Aparajita Singh, Sr. Advocate [A.C.] (N.P.), Mr. A.D.N. Rao, Sr. Advocate [A.C.], Mr. Rahul Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Dhuli Shiv Shankar, Advocate, Ms. Agrimaa Singh, Advocate, Mr. K. Parameshwar, Advocate [A.C.] Ms. Kanti, Advocate, Ms. Arti Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Siddhartha Chowdhury, Advocate [A.C.] (N.P.), Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G., Mr. Balbir Singh, A.S.G., Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, Advocate, Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, Advocate, Ms. Suhashini Sen, Advocate, Mr. Chinmayee Chandra, Advocate, Mr. S.S. Rebello, Advocate, Mr. Shyam Gopal, Advocate, Mr. Raghav Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Sughosh Subramanyam, Advocate, Ms. Shagun Thakur, Advocate, Ms. Manisha Chaya, Advocate, Mr. Rohan Gupta, Advocate, Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG, Mr. Abhay Anil Anturkar, Advocate, Mr. Anuj Udupa, Advocate, Mr. Dhruv Tank, Advocate, Ms. Surbhi Kapoor, Advocate, Mr. K.M. Natraj, ASG, Ms. Indira Bhakar, Advocate, Mr. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar, Advocate, Mr. Mukesh Kr. Verma, Advocate, Mr. Neeraj Kr. Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Akshit Pradhan, Advocate, Mr. Nakul Chengappa K.K., Advocate, Mr. S.N. Terdal, Advocate, Mr. Balbir Singh, ASG, Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Advocate, Mr. Naman Tandon, Advocate, Ms. Suhasini Sen, Advocate, Mr. Navanjay Mohapatra, Advocate, Mr. Samarvir Singh, Advocate, Mr. Amrish Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Abhinav Mukerji, Advocate, Mr. Anup Kumar Rattan, Advocate, General, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Abhinav Mukerji, A.A.G., Mr. Puneet Rajta, Advocate, Mr. Akshay C. Shrivastava, Advocate, Mrs. Bihu Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Pratishtha Vij, Advocate, Mr. Dharmendra Kr. Sinha, Advocate, Dr. Manish Singhvi,Sr.Advocate, Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, Advocate, Mr. Ashok Basoya, Advocate, Ms. Aruna Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Ramesh Allanki, Advocate, Mr. Vundavalli Aruna Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Nandram, Advocate, Mr. V. K. Shukla, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, Advocate, Mr. Ashiwan Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, Advocate, Petitioner(s)-in-person Mr. Manish Singhvi, Sr. Advocate, Mr. D.K. Devesh, Advocate, Mr. Arpit Parkash, Advocate, Mr. Harsh Singh Rawat, Advocate, Mrs. Snehal U. Kanzarkar, Advocate, Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar,Sr.Advocate, Ms. Ila Sheel, Advocate, Mr. Shikhar Sheel, Advocate, Mr. Karan Mathur, Advocate, Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Advocate, Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, Advocate, Mr. Bharat Bagla, Advocate, Ms. Kirti Dadheech, Advocate, Mr. G.S. Gerwal, Advocate, Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. S.K. Rajora, Advocate, Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Advocate, Mr. Narendra Pal Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Ajay Bansal, Advocate, Mr. Gaurav Yadava, Advocate, Ms. Veena Bansal, Advocate, Mr. Praveen Swaroop, Advocate, Ms. Sujata Kurdukar, Advocate, Mr. Tomy Chako, Advocate, Mr. Shiv Singh Yadav,Advocate, Ms. Priya Ranjan Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Krishnam Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Abhishek Atrey, Advocate, Ms. Ambika Atrey, Advocate, Mr. Omkar Jayant Deshpande, Advocate, Mr. Shashi Bhushan P. Adgaonkar, Advocate, Mrs. Pradnya S. Adgaonkar, Advocate, M/s. Khaitan and Co., Advocate, Mr. Somiran Sharma, Advocate, Mr. B.K. Pal, Advocate, Mr. Nishant R. Katneshwarkar, Advocate, M/S Mitter and Mitter Co., Advocate, Ms. Ranjeeta Rohtagi, Advocate, Mr. C. S. Ashri, Advocate, Mr. James P. Thomas, Advocate, Mr. P. S. Sudheer, Advocate, Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, Advocate, Mr. Ashutosh Thakur, Advocate, Dr. Sumit Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Chandra Pratap, Advocate, Ms. Mrigna Shekhar, Advocate, Ms. Aarushi Singh, Advocate, Mr. Harsh Parashar, Advocate, Mr. Gaurav Aggarwal, Advocate, Mr. K.V. Vijayakumar, Advocate, Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, Advocate, Dr. Monika Gusain, Advocate, Mr. Siddharatha Jha, Advocate, Mr. Syed Mehdi Imam, Advocate, Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Advocate, Mr. Ajay Marwah, Advocate, M/S. Venkat Palwai Law Associates, Advocate, Mr. Mohit Paul, Advocate, Mr. Kunal Cheema, Advocate, Mr. Naveen Kumar, Advocate, Ms. Suman Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Vinod Ghai,Sr.Advocate, /AG Punjab, Mr. Aman Pal, AAG, Mr. Ajay Pal, Advocate, Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Advocate, Mrs. Suroor Mander, Advocate, Mr. Bhavanishankar V. Gadnis, Advocate, Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, Advocate, Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, Advocate, Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, Advocate, M/S. Parekh & Co., Advocate, Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, Advocate, Dr. (Mrs. ) Vipin Gupta, Advocate, M/S. J S Wad and Co, Advocate, M/S. K J John and Co, Advocate, Mrs. Sudha Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Chander Shekhar Ashri, Advocate, Mr. Parijat Sinha, Advocate, M/S. Mitter & Mitter Co., Advocate, Mr. Yashraj Singh Deora, Advocate, Ms. Madhu Sikri, Advocate, Mr. Ninad Lad, Advocate, Mr. Jayant Mohan, Advocate, Mr. Ivo Costa, Advocate, Ms. Rashika Narain, Advocate, Ms. Adya Shree Dutta, Advocate, Mr. Mohan Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Amit Sharma, Advocate, Mr. E. C. Agrawala, Advocate, Mr. P. S. Sudheer, Advocate, Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, Advocate, Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Advocate, Mr. Kunal Chatterji, Advocate, Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Advocate, Mr. Rohit Bansal, Advocate, Ms. Kshitij Singh, Advocate, By Courts Motion, Advocate, Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, Advocate, M/S. Plr Chambers and Co., Advocate, Mr. Syed Mehdi Imam, Advocate, Mr. Mohd Parvez Dabas, Advocate, Mr. Uzmi Jamil Husain, Advocate, Mr. T. Harish Kumar, Advocate, M/S. Mitter & Mitter Co., Advocate, Mr. Yashraj Singh Deora, Advocate, Mr. Siddhant Singh, Advocate, Mr. Priyesh Mohan Srivastava, Advocate, Mr. Abhishek Singh, Advocate, M/S. Lawyer S Knit & Co, Advocate, Shri. Gaichangpou Gangmei, Advocate, Mr. Raj Kishor Choudhary, Advocate, Mr. Shakeel Ahmed, Advocate, Mr. Anupam Bhati, Advocate, Mr. Nakul Chaudhary, Advocate, Mr. Waseem Akhtar Khan, Advocate, Mr. Amir Kaleem, Advocate, Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, Advocate, Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Advocate, Mr. Sai Shashank, Advocate, Mr. Ashok Mathur, Advocate, Mr. P. N. Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Gopal Prasad, Advocate, Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, Advocate, Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, Advocate, Mr. Lakshay Saini, Advocate, Ms. Madhu Moolchandani, Advocate, Mr. T. Mahipal, Advocate, Mr. Rajat Joseph, Advocate, Mr. Vijay Kari Singh, Advocate, M/S. Arputham Aruna and Co, Advocate, Mrs. Nandini Gore, Advocate, Mr. Raj Kumar Mehta, Advocate, M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, Advocate, Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, Advocate, Ms. S. Janani, Advocate, Mrs. Kanchan Kaur Dhodi, Advocate, Mr. Surya Kant, Advocate, Mr. E. C. Vidya Sagar, Advocate, Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari, Advocate, Ms. Pratibha Jain, Advocate, Mr. Tejaswi Kumar Pradhan, Advocate, Mr. Prashant Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Subodh Kr. Pathak, Advocate, Mr. Vinod Kr. Soni, Advocate, Mr. Shashi Ranjan, Advocate, Mr. Pawan Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Akash Swami, Advocate, Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Sinha, Advocate, Mr. P. Parmeswaran, Advocate, Ms. Sujata Kurdukar, Advocate, Ms. Sharmila Upadhyay, Advocate, Mr. Rajeev Singh, Advocate, Mr. Sudarsh Menon, Advocate, Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., Advocate, Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, Advocate, Mr. Dushyant Singh Chauhan, Advocate, Mr. Nitin Singh, Advocate, Mr. Shiva Pujan Singh, Advocate, Mr. Rajesh Singh, Advocate, Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, Advocate, Mr. Kamal Mohan Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, Advocate, Mr. Rajesh, Advocate, M/S. Corporate Law Group, Advocate, Mr. Lakshmi Raman Singh, Advocate, Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, Advocate, Mr. M. C. Dhingra, Advocate, Mr. C. L. Sahu, Advocate, Ms. Sumita Hazarika, Advocate, Ms. Abha R. Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Abhishek Chaudhary, Advocate, Mr. S. R. Setia, Advocate, Mrs. Manik Karanjawala, Advocate, Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, Advocate, Mr. T. V. George, Advocate, Mr. Krishnanand Pandeya, Advocate, Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, Advocate, Mr. Ashutosh Thakur, Advocate, Dr. Sumit Kumar, Advocate, Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, Advocate, Mr. E. M. S. Anam, Advocate, Ms. Charu Mathur, Advocate, Mr. Rajiv Mehta, Advocate, Mr. Punit Dutt Tyagi, Advocate, Mr. Rathin Das, Advocate, Mr. Ratan Kumar Choudhuri, Advocate, Mr. Sudhir Kulshreshtha, Advocate, Ms. Binu Tamta, Advocate, Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, Advocate, Mr. Vikas Kumar Singh, Advocate, Ms. Rajshree Singh, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Singh, Advocate, Mr. Sham Chand, Advocate, Mr. T. N. Singh, Advocate, Mr. Sudhir Kumar Gupta, Advocate, Mr. A. N. Arora, Advocate, Mr. Irshad Ahmad, Advocate, Mr. G. Prakash, Advocate, Mr. Rauf Rahim, Advocate, Ms. Ruchira Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Shishir Deshpande, Advocate, Ms. Urvi Kapoor, Advocate, Ms. Harshita Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, Advocate, Mr. Upendra Mishra, Advocate, Mr. P.S. Negi, Advocate, Mr. Rakesh Chaudhary, Advocate, Mr. Naresh Kumar, Advocate, Mr. B V Deepak, Advocate, Mr. Gopal Singh, Advocate, Mr. Avijit Bhattacharjee, Advocate, Mr. Jitendra Mohan Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Malini Poduval, Advocate, Ms. C. K. Sucharita, Advocate, Mrs. Anjani Aiyagari, Advocate, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Ravinder Singh, Advocate, Mr. Srisatya Mohanty, Advocate, Mr. Amit Bhandari, Advocate, Ms. Raveesha Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushik, Advocate, Ms. Mantika Haryani, Advocate, Mr. Himanshu Chakravarty, Advocate, Mr. Devvrat Singh, Advocate, Ms. Muskan Surana, Advocate, Ms. Astha Sharma, Advocate, Mrs. Rekha Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Mohd. Irshad Hanif, Advocate, Mr. Gurmeet Singh, Advocate, Mr. Amar Kumar Raizada, Advocate, Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, Advocate, Mr. Naresh K. Sharma, Advocate, Mr. R. Ramesh, Advocate, Ms. A. Sumathi, Advocate, Mr. Jai Prakash Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Ajit Pudussery, Advocate, Ms. Hemantika Wahi, Advocate, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Bakshi, Advocate, Mr. K. L. Janjani, Advocate, Ms. Divya Roy, Advocate, Mr. Tarun Johri, Advocate, Mr. Tarun Johri, Advocate, Mr. Ankur Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Vishwajeet Tyagi, Advocate, Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, Advocate, Mr. Ram Swarup Sharma, Advocate, Mrs. Bina Gupta, Advocate, Mrs. Rani Chhabra, Advocate, M/S. K J John and Co, Advocate, Mr. V. Balachandran, Advocate, Mr. S. C. Birla, Advocate, Mr. P. R. Ramasesh, Advocate, Mr. Shibashish Misra, Advocate, M/S. Parekh & Co., Advocate, Mrs. M. Qamaruddin, Advocate, Mr. H. S. Parihar, Advocate, Ms. Baby Krishnan, Advocate, Ms. Bina Madhavan, Advocate, Mr. K. V. Vijayakumar, Advocate, Mr. Umesh Bhagwat, Advocate, Mr. Sarad Kumar Singhania, Advocate, Mr. E. C. Agrawala, Advocate, Mr. Kuldip Singh, Advocate, Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, Advocate, Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, Advocate, Mr. Naresh Kumar, Advocate, Dr. Monika Gusain, Advocate, Mr. P.K. Manohar, Advocate, Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Advocate, Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, Advocate, Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Advocate, Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Advocate, Mr. Vaibhav Sabharwal, Advocate, Mr. Akshay Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Rajan Parmar, Advocate, Mr. Naveen Kumar, Advocate, Mr. James P. Thomas, Advocate, Mrs. Niranjana Singh, Advocate, Mr. Dhaval Mehrotra, Advocate, Mr. Rahul Garg, Advocate, Mr. B. K. Pal, Advocate, Ms. Shalini Kaul, Advocate, Mr. Sarvam Ritam Khare, Advocate, Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, Advocate, Mr. Vishal Bansal, Advocate, Ms. Rajshwari Shankar, Advocate, Mr. Niroop Sukirthy, Advocate, Mr. Md. Ovais, Advocate, Mr. Aravindh S., Advocate, Ms. Uma Bhuvaneshwari, Advocate, Mr. Abbas.b, Advocate, M/S. D.S.K. Legal, Advocate, Mrs. Pragya Baghel, Advocate, Mr. Mrinal Gopal Elker, Advocate, Mrs. Mrinal Elker Mazumdar, Advocate, Dr. Manish Singhvi Sr, Advocate, Mr. Arpit Parkash, Advocate, Mr. Milind Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Sanjay Parikh,Sr.Advocate, Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, Advocate, Ms. Satwik Parikh, Advocate, Ms. Sanjana Grace Thomas, Advocate, Ms. Mantika Vohra, Advocate, Mr. Ravindra Keshavrao Adsure, Advocate, Mr. Rohan Darade, Advocate, Mr. Lav Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Gopal Balwant Sathe, Advocate, Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, Advocate, Mr. Dhanesh Ieshdhan, Advocate, Mr. Balbir Singh, A.S.G., Ms. Suhashini Sen, Advocate, Mr. Naman Tondon, Advocate, Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Advocate, Mr. Samarvir Singh, Advocate, Mr. Navanjay Mahapatra, Advocate, Mr. T.s. Sabarish, Advocate, Mr. Amrish Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Kaushik Choudhury, Advocate, Ms. Anzu. K. Varkey, Advocate, Mr. Ritesh Patil, Advocate, Mr. M. R. Shamshad, Advocate, Mr. Ajay Marwah, Advocate, Mr. Naveen Kumar, Advocate, Ms. Prerna Singh, Advocate, Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, Advocate, Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, Advocate, Mr. Sanjay Upadhyay, Advocate, Mr. Vyom Raghuvanshi, Advocate, Mr. Kazi Sangay Thupden, Advocate, Ms. Eisha Krishan, Advocate, Ms. Mansi Bacheni, Advocate, Ms. Gitanjali Sanyal, Advocate, Mr. Deep Rao Palepu, Advocate, Mr. Syed Jafar Alam, Advocate, Mr. Arjun Agarwal, Advocate, M/S. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Advocate, Ms. Ruchira Goel, Advocate, Ms. Adarsh Nain, Advocate, Mr. Barun Kumar Sinha, AAG, Mr. Kumar Anurag Singh, Advocate, Mr. Anando Mukherjee, Advocate, Mr. Shwetank Singh,?Advocate, Ms. Beena Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Wills Mathews, Advocate, Mr. Paul Johnedison, Advocate, Ms. Deepa Joseph, Advocate, Ms. Sweta Garg, Advocate, Ms. Kavya S. Lokande, Advocate, Ms. Niharika Dewivedi, Advocate, Ms. Sweta Sand, Advocate, Mr. Ravish Kumar Goyal, Advocate, Mr. Nitin Sharma, Advocate, Mr. E. Vinay Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Jha, Advocate, Mr. Siddhartha Jha, Advocate, Ms. Seita Vaidyalingam, Advocate, M/S. Venkat Palwai Law Associates, Advocate, Mr. P Venkat Reddy, Advocate, Mr. Prashant Kumar Tyagi, Advocate, Mr. P Srinivas Reddy, Advocate, Mr. Vinod Sharma, Advocate, Nishanth Patil, Advocate, Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, Advocate, Dr. Joseph Aristotle S., Advocate, Mr. Shobhit Dwivedi, Advocate, Ms. Vaidehi Rastogi, Advocate, Mrs. Garima Prashad, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Nishit Agrawal, Advocate, Ms. Kanishka Mitral, Advocate, Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, Advocate, Mr. Narendra Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Anand Kumar Dubey, Advocate, Mr. Simanta Kumar, Advocate, Mr. S. Gowthaman, Advocate, Mr. Saket Singh, Advocate, Ms. Sangeeta Singh, Advocate, Ms. Niranjana Singh, Advocate, Mr. Somesh Chandra Jha, Advocate, Mr. Sunil Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. K.M. Nataraj, Solicitor General Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, Advocate, Mr. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar, Advocate, Mr. Mukesh Kr. Verma, Advocate, Mr. Neeraj Kr . Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Indira Bhakar, Advocate, Mr. P. S. Sudheer, Advocate, Mr. Sunny Choudhary, Advocate, Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, Advocate, Mrs. Kirti Renu Mishra, Advocate, Counsel for parties;

Balancing developmental activities with environmental concerns is crucial under forest conservation laws.

Headnote:ENVIRONMENT - CONSTRUCTION - Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006; Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016; Compensatory Afforestation Fund Rules, 2018 - The judgment discusses the permission sought for construction in forest areas and the conditions imposed by the Central Empowered Committee. It also addresses the need to balance developmental activities with environmental concerns and the protection of forest areas.

Fact of the Case:

The case involves applications seeking permission for construction in forest areas under various Acts. The court considers the impact on developmental activities and environmental concerns.

Finding of the Court:

The court allows certain applications while imposing conditions to protect the environment. It emphasizes the need to balance development with environmental protection.

Issues:

Balancing developmental activities with environmental concerns, permissions for construction in forest areas, compensatory afforestation, and protection of forest reserves.

Ratio Decidendi:

The court emphasizes the importance of protecting forest areas while allowing certain developmental activities. It highlights the need for compensatory afforestation and balancing environmental concerns with developmental projects.

Final Decision:

The court allows some applications while imposing conditions to protect the environment and emphasizes the need to balance development with environmental protection.

ORDER

1. This application concerns the Report of the CEC bearing No.31 of 2022 in Application No.1559/2022 filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Ministry of Finance, Government of India seeking permission of this Court for diversion of 6,200 sq. mtrs of Morphological Ridge Area situated at Plot No.11B, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi for construction of office building for the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Headquarters, New Delhi.

2. The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has filed its report. In the Report, the CEC has recommended permitting the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to construct the aforesaid headquarters at the site mentioned above, subject to certain conditions.

3. The CEC, in paragraph 22 of its Report dated 01.12.2022 has observed thus:-

    "22. Keeping in view the discussions in the preceding paragraphs and considering that

    i) the land in plot No.11 is part of the Institutional Plot within the constraint area in Vasant Kunj,

    ii) the construction work has already commenced and that the DRI is in need of an independent office for smooth discharge of its functions.

    It is recommended that this Hon'ble Court may consider permitting the DRI, Ministry of Finance, Government of India to construct its Office Headquarters in Plot No.11B on the land measuring 6200 sq.mts in Morphological Ridge area in Vasant Kunj in New Delhi subject to the following conditions:

    i) the DRI, Ministry of Finance, shall deposit 5% of the project cost of Rs.74.80 crores with RMB Fund and which amount under the close supervision of the Delhi Ridge Management Board shall be used by Delhi Forest Department for conservation and protection of Delhi Ridge;

    ii) the DRI shall deposit cost of undertaking compensatory planting of 500 plants and maintenance for five years with the Delhi Forest Department which shall take up planting of indigenous species and its maintenance. DRI and DDA shall make available sufficient land for undertaking compensatory planting of 500 plants;

    iii) Vice Chairman, DDA shall deposit in RMB Fund 5% of Rs.9,00,15,837/- (cost of land paid by DRI to DDA) as penalty for allotment of land in Morphological Ridge without obtaining prior approval of this Hon'ble Court; and

    iv) CPWD will deposit in RMB Fund an amount of Rs.1 lakh being the penalty for having destroyed the trees standing on the plot and carrying out excavation work without obtaining the prior approval of this Hon'ble Court.

    This Hon'ble Court may consider directing the Delhi Development Authority not to allot in future any land to any agency situated in the notified Ridge and Morphological Ridge without the prior approval of this Hon'ble Court."

4. It could thus be seen that the CEC has no objection if the aforesaid construction is permitted, subject to the conditions stipulated in the said Report.

5. We are, therefore, inclined to allow the application (Application No.1559/2022) filed by DRI on the conditions stipulated in the CEC Report No.31/2022, converted into I.A. No.191635/2022.

6. Permission is granted, subject to conditions, stipulated in the Report (as modified hereinbelow). The DRI as well as DDA shall scrupulously comply with the conditions mentioned in the Report.

7. Insofar as condition No.2 is concerned, Mr. Balbir Singh, learned Additional Solicitor General of India, graciously states that the DRI is willing to plant 1000 plants instead of 500 plants, as such the words 500 plants', in condition No.2, shall be substituted with 1000 plants'.

8. Insofar as condition No.4 is concerned, the words 'being the penalty' shall stand struck off.

9. We find that since the land which is allotted by the DDA is part of the land, which was excluded by the orders of this Court dated 13.09.1996 and 19.08.1997, the CEC was not justified in imposing condition No.3 insofar as the DDA is concerned. The condition No.3 is, therefore, set aside.

10. I.A. No.191635/2022 is, accordingly, disposed of.

11. While considering the said I.A., one important aspect has been brought to our n

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