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2025 Supreme(SC) 1006

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, CJ., Augustine George Masih, J.
In Re : T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad - Petitioner
Vs.
Union Of India & Ors. - Respondent
Writ Petition(S)(Civil) No(S). 202 Of 1995
Decided On : 29-05-2025

Advocates Appeared:
For the Parties :Mr. Harish N. Salve, Sr. Adv. [A.C.] (NP) Mr. A.D.N. Rao, Sr. Advocate [A.C.] (NP) Ms. Aparajita Singh, Sr. Advocate [A.C.] (NP) Mr. Siddhartha Chowdhury, Advocate [A.C.] (NP) Mr. K. Parameshwar, Sr. Advocate [A.C.] Ms. Kanti,Adv. Mr. Mukunda,Adv. Mr. Shreenivas Patil,Adv. Ms. Chitransha Singh,Adv. Mr. T. Harish Kumar, AOR M/S. Mitter & Mitter Co., AOR M/S. Lawyer S Knit & Co, AOR M/S. Plr Chambers And Co., AOR Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, AOR Mr. Syed Mehdi Imam, AOR Mr. Mohd Parvez Dabas, Adv. Mr. Uzmi Jamil Husain, Adv. Ms. Pooja Kumari, Adv. Mr. Mukul Rohatgi,Sr.Adv. Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar,Sr.Adv. Mr. Vivek Gupta,AOR Mr. Ankit Verma,Adv. Mr. Govind Gupta,Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Mr. Raj Kishor Choudhary, AOR Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Gaichangpou Gangmei, AOR Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR Mr. Mohd. Irshad Hanif, AOR Mr. Punit Dutt Tyagi, AOR Mr. Rathin Das, AOR Mr. Ratan Kumar Choudhuri, AOR Mr. Sudhir Kulshreshtha, AOR Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, AOR Ms. Sushma Suri, AOR Mr. Sudhir Kumar Gupta, AOR Mr. A. N. Arora, AOR Mr. Irshad Ahmad, AOR Mr. G. Prakash, AOR Mr. E. M. S. Anam, AOR Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR Mr. Jitendra Mohan Sharma, AOR Ms. Malini Poduval, AOR Ms. C. K. Sucharita, AOR Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR Mr. K. L. Janjani, AOR Mr. Pankaj Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Pawan Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Vijay Kumar Pandey, Adv. Mr. Naresh K. Sharma, AOR Ms. A. Sumathi, AOR Mr. Jai Prakash Pandey, AOR Mrs. Anjani Aiyagari, AOR Mr. K. V. Vijayakumar, AOR Mrs. Rani Chhabra, AOR Ms. Divya Roy, AOR Mr. Tarun Johri, AOR Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR M/S. K J John And Co, AOR Mr. V. Balachandran, AOR Mr. S. C. Birla, AOR Mr. Ram Swarup Sharma, AOR Mr. T. Mahipal, AOR Mr. Umesh Bhagwat, AOR Mrs. M. Qamaruddin, AOR Mr. H. S. Parihar, AOR Ms. Baby Krishnan, AOR Mr. P. R. Ramasesh, AOR Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, AOR Mr. P. N. Gupta, AOR Mr. Sarad Kumar Singhania, AOR Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR Ms. Bina Madhavan, AOR Ms. Pratibha Jain, AOR Mr. Rajat Joseph, AOR Mr. Gopal Prasad, AOR Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, AOR Mr. S.. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, AOR Ms. Sharmila Upadhyay, AOR Mr. Tejaswi Kumar Pradhan, AOR M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR Mrs. Nandini Gore, AOR Mr. Raj Kumar Mehta, AOR Ms. Madhu Moolchandani, AOR Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR Mrs. Kanchan Kaur Dhodi, AOR Mr. Surya Kant, AOR Mr. E. C. Vidya Sagar, AOR M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR Mrs. Manik Karanjawala, AOR Mr. Kamal Mohan Gupta, AOR Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Sinha, AOR Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR Ms. Sujata Kurdukar, AOR Ms. Charu Mathur, AOR Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, AOR Mr. Sudarsh Menon, AOR Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR Mr. Shiva Pujan Singh, AOR Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, AOR Mr. Rajiv Mehta, AOR Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR Mr. Rajesh, AOR M/S. Corporate Law Group, AOR Mr. Lakshmi Raman Singh, AOR Mr. B V Deepak, AOR Mr. T. N. Singh, AOR Mr. C. L. Sahu, AOR Ms. Sumita Hazarika, AOR Ms. Abha R. Sharma, AOR Mr. Abhishek Chaudhary, AOR Mrs. Rekha Pandey, AOR Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR Mr. T. V. George, AOR Mr. Krishnanand Pandeya, AOR Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR Mr. Rajesh Singh, AOR Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Chawla, Adv. Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv. Mr. Varun Varma, Adv. Mr. Shiva Nand Sharma, Adv. Mr. Narendra Pal Sharma, Adv. Mr. Chaman Sharma, Adv. Mr. Javed Raza, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Sharma, Adv. Mr. Shubham Rajhans, Adv. Mr. Ishank Ranjan, Adv. Ms. Swati Vishan, Adv. Ms. Charanjeet Sidhu, Adv. Ms. Manisha Chawla, Adv. Ms. Niharika Dwivedi, Adv. Ms. Yamini Sharma, Adv. Ms. Kanchan Kumari, Adv. Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR Mr. Vikash Singh, AOR Mrs. Pragya Baghel, AOR Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam, AOR Mr. Kumar Abhishek, Adv. Ms. M. Harshini, Adv. Applicant-in-person, AOR Mr. Anant Mann, AOR Mr. Lakshmeesh S. Kamath, AOR Mr. Gopal Balwant Sathe, AOR Mr. Sarvam Ritam Khare, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. K. M. Nataraj Ld. Asg, A.S.G. Mr. Shyam Gopal, Adv. Ms. Suhasini Sen, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Anuj Srinivas Udupa, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kumar Sharma, Adv. Ms. Mrinal Elker Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Mr. Mukesh K Verma, Adv. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Ms. Sunieta Ojha, AOR Mr. Dinesh Chandra Pandey, AOR Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, AOR Mr. Himinder Lal, AOR Ms. Shruti Jose, AOR Mr. Kaushik Choudhury, AOR Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Mr. Aman Gautam, Adv. Mr. S.N. Terdal, AOR Ms. Rani Mishra, AOR Dr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR Mr. G.S. Makker, AOR Mr. M.K. Maroria, AOR Mr. Arun K. Sinha, AOR Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. P.S. Sudheer, AOR Mr. Colin H. Gonsalves,Sr.Adv. Mr. Vivek V. Gautam,Adv. Mr. Lalit Mohan,Adv. Mr. V. Vaish,Adv. Ms. Misha Rohatgi Mohta, AOR Ms. Nina Nariman,Adv. Mr. Tahira Karanjawala,Adv. Mr. Arjun Sharma,Adv. Ms. Sarah Ayreen Mir,Adv. Mr. Sharanya Ghosh,Adv. For M/s. Karanjawala & Co. Mr. Krishna Ballabh Thakur, AOR Mr. T.R.B. Sivakumar, AOR Mr. Aaditya A . Pande, AOR Ms. Rani Mishra, AOR Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Mr. G.S. Makker, AOR Mr. Aravind S., AOR Mr. Samir Ali Khan, AOR Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Ms. Purnima Krishna, AOR Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR Mr. S.N. Terdal, AOR Mr. V.N. Raghupathy, AOR Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Sudeep Kumar, AOR Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Ms. Sugandha Anand, AOR Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mr. Aaditya A. Pande, AOR Mr. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Pashupati Nath Razdan, AOR Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR Ms. Swati Ghildiyal Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker/Mrinal Elker Mazumdar, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam, AOR Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. T.K. Nayak,Adv. Ms. Rani Mishra, AOR Mr. Syed Mehdi Imam, AOR Ms. Swathi H. Prasad, AOR Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, AOR Mr. Shoeb Alam,Sr.Adv. Ms. Tanya Srivastava, AOR Mr. Anmol Kheta,Adv. Mr. Deb Saran,Adv. Ms. Ranu Purohit, AOR Mr. M.K. Maroria, AOR Mr. G.S. Makker, AOR Mrs. Kirti Renu Mishra, AOR Mr. Atul Sharma, AOR Mr. Anirudh Sanganeria, AOR Mr. Chinmay Deshpande, Adv. Mr. Shrey Kapoor , AOR Ms. Anne Mathew, AOR Mr. Yash S. Vijay, AOR Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR Dr. Abhishek Atrey, Adv. Ms. Vidyottma Jha, Adv. Mr. Brijesh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Harmeet Singh Ruprah, D.A.G. Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR Ms. Ila Shikhar Sheel, Adv. Mr. Aditya Chaudhary, Adv. Ms. Chhavi Khandelwal, Adv. Mr. Dhaval Mehrotra, AOR Mr. Binay Kumar Das, AOR Ms. Lakshmi N. Kaimal, AOR Mr. Subhasish Mohanty, AOR Mr Rahul Jain, AOR Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR Mr. Naveen Kumar, AOR Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR M/S. D.s.k. Legal, AOR Ms. Shibani Ghosh, AOR Mr. Chandra Bhushan Prasad, AOR Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv. Mr. Amogh Bansal, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR Mr. Pankaj Sharma,, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Singh Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Yatinder Choudhary, Adv. Ms. Deveshi Chand, Adv. Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, AOR Mr. Ashok Panigrahi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Nilesh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Rajeev Maheshwaranand Roy, AOR M/S. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Aor, AOR Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Adv. Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Manika Tripathy, AOR Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR Mr. Arjun D Singh, Adv. Ms. Supreeta Sharanagouda, AOR Mr. Vaibhav Gaggar, Sr. Adv. Ms. Ranu Purohit, AOR Mr. Yashas Rk, Adv. Ms. Adarsh Nain, AOR Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR Ms. Purnima Krishna, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mrs. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Jagdish Chandra Solanki, Adv. Mr. Suhasini Sen, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Dr. Surender Singh Hooda, AOR Mr. Sunil Kumar Verma, AOR Mr. Prakash Kumar Singh, AOR Ms. Tanya Srivastava, AOR Ms. Seita Vaidyalingam, AOR Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Ms. Anzu. K. Varkey, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Shreyas Gacche, Adv. Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR Mr. Sujit Kumar Mishra , AOR Mr. Aldanish Rein, AOR Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Mr. Shantanu Kumar, AOR Nishanth Patil, AOR M/S. Venkat Palwai Law Associates, AOR Mr. Ajay Marwah, AOR Mr. Ravindra S. Garia, AOR Mr. Vivek Jain, A.A.G. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Ms. Sugandha Anand , AOR Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. Deeptakirti Verma, AOR Ms. Usha Nandini V., AOR Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, AOR Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR Mr. Vivek Jain, AOR Ms. Garima Prashad, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Sudeep Kumar, AOR Ms. Manisha, Adv. Ms. Rupali, Adv. Ms. Rani Mishra, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Venkata Raghuvamsy D. , AOR Ms. Swathi H. Prasad, AOR Mr. M K S Menon, Adv. Mr. Matin Chacko, Adv. Mr. Amit Mittel, Adv. Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, AOR Mr. Somesh Chandra Jha, AOR Ms. Ruchira Goel, AOR Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv. Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Ms. Richa Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Tarun Gupta, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv. Mrs. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, AOR Mr. Shubham Upadhyay, AOR Mr. P. S. Sudheer, AOR Mr. Sunny Choudhary, AOR Mr. Siddhartha Jha, AOR M/S. V. Maheshwari & Co., AOR Mr. Naveen .n, Adv. Mr. K. Nagan Pillai, Adv. Mr. Mayank Aggarwal, AOR Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, AOR Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR Mr. J K Sethi, D.A.G. Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Sharma, AOR Ms. Sakshi Singh Rawat, Adv. Ms. Suman Kukrety, AOR Mr. Naveen Kumar, AOR Mr. P. K. Manohar, AOR Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR Ms. Surbhi Mehta, AOR Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR Ms. Parul Shukla, AOR Mr. Prashant Kumar Umrao, AOR Mr. Arun K. Sinha, AOR Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR Mr. B. K. Pal, AOR Mr. James P. Thomas, AOR Mr. S. Gowthaman, AOR Mr. A. Karthik, AOR Mr. Rajiv Kumar Choudhry , AOR Mr. Anurag Tandon, AOR Ms. Dr. Monika Gusain, Sr. Adv. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Mr. Hariom Yaduvanshi, Adv. Mr. Arjun Yaduvanshi, Adv. Ms. S. Harini, Adv. Mr. Avi Dhankhar, Adv. Mr. Vansmani Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Aahana Jaiswal, Adv. Ms. Drishti Rawal, Adv. Ms. Drishti Saraf, Adv. Mr. Omanakuttan K. K., AOR Mr. Ajit Sharma, AOR Mr. Kanchan Kumar,Adv. Mr. Lareb Habin Ansari,Adv. Mr. Yuvraj Singh C. Solanki,Adv. Ms. Shalini Kaul, AOR Mr. Sunil Kumar Sharma, AOR Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Neha Singh, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Sharma, AOR Mrs. Aishwrya Bhati, A.S.G. Mrs. Archana Pathak Dave, A.S.G. Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR Mr. Uday Prakash Yadav, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sughosh Subramanium, Adv. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv. Ms. Suhasini Sen, Adv. Mr. Samir Ali Khan, AOR Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, AOR Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mr. Nishit Agrawal, AOR Mr. Krishna Ballabh Thakur, AOR Ms. Aruna Gupta, AOR Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Mr. Nalin Kohli, Sr. Adv. Ms. Ruchira Gupta, Adv. Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR Ms. Pooja Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Verma, Adv. Mr. Yusuf, AOR

Public officials have a duty to act against illegal activities affecting ecology, and accountability must be enforced to prevent further environmental harm.

Headnote:(A) Relevant laws and sections include Section 173(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973; Sections 120-B, 218, 409, 467, 471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; Section 26-1(f) & (h) of the Indian Forest Act, 1927; Section 2 (iv) (read with Section 3 A & 3B) of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980; and Sections 27(2)(a), 27(4) & 35(6) read with Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. (Paras 3, 5, 17)

(B) The court addressed the issue of collusion among state officials and illegal mining activities facilitated by local authorities, emphasizing an obligation for public officials to act diligently in preserving ecology. (Paras 3, 10, 15)

Facts of the case:
This case concerns illegal road construction for mining, implicating collusion among local officials and a mafia operating in the area. The Chief Secretary's affidavit reveals a lack of adequate action against violators and highlights systemic negligence among multiple departments. (Paras 1-16)

Findings of Court:
The court noted significant laxity in the State's handling of illegal mining, stating that immediate action is required against the responsible officials to prevent environmental degradation. (Paras 15, 16)

Issues: The court examined the accountability of state officials for illegal activity and whether appropriate measures were taken to address ecological concerns. (Paras 3, 15)

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the Chief Secretary must ensure accountability, criticizing efforts to shift blame while noting the necessity for direct actions against those involved in illegal mining operations. (Paras 3, 15)

Result: The Chief Secretary is directed to take immediate action against negligent officials and report back by 15th July 2025.

Table of Content
1. construction of a road for illegal mining (Para 1 , 2)
2. cbi investigation into various allegations (Para 3)
3. laxity in government response to illegal activity (Para 4 , 5)
4. responsibility of officials and potential actions (Para 6 , 16)
5. lack of accountability in government actions. (Para 7)
6. disposal and listing of different applications (Para 8 , 11)
7. mining regulations proximity to wildlife shelters (Para 9)
8. possession of forest land and responsibilities outlined (Para 10 , 12)
9. state meeting for discussing departmental actions (Para 14)
10. court overseeing action against government officials (Para 15 , 17 , 18)

ORDER :

[ 1 ] I.A. NOS. 269550, 269552 AND 269553 OF 2024 WITH I.A. NO. 100529 of 2025 (CEC REPORT NO. 17 OF 2025) WITH I.A. NO. 137359 of 2025 (CEC REPORT NO. 29 OF 2025)- In Re:Jumma & Ors.

1. This matter pertains to the construction of road by cutting from an area falling within the State of Haryana to the mines in the State of Rajasthan, in order to facilitate illegal mining activities undertaken by the mafia.

2. When the said issue was bought to the notice of this Court, vide order dated 19th March 2025, this Court requested CEC to investigate in the matter. Consequently, the CEC had filed its report on 15th April 2025. Pursuant thereto, the Chief Secretary, State of Haryana has filed an affidavit addressing the aforesaid issue.

3. A perusal of the affidavit dated 15th May 2025 filed by the Chief Secretary would clearly show that the construction of road has been orchestrated in collusion with the Sarpanch of the concerned village, the officials of the Revenue Department and the Police Department. It is only on account of the intervention of the CEC on the basis of the orders passed by this Court, on the applicant bringing it to the notice of this Court, that the things have moved.

4. A perusal of the affidavit would also reveal that the officers of the Revenue Department have acted with utmost laxity. Though notice dated 1st April 2025 was received by the office of the Chief Secretary on 3rd April 2025, informing him about the meeting with CEC scheduled on 9th April 2025 – neither the Collector nor the Chief Secretary nor their representatives were present before the CEC on the said date.

5. To pass the buck, the Chief Secretary in his affidavit states that he had forwarded a copy of the notice to the Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Forest and Wildlife, Government of Haryana for taking his opinion. However, there is no explanation in the affidavit as why at least the Additional Chief Secretary was not present in the said meeting. The affidavit further reveals that after the CEC noticed that the officers of the Revenue Department were not present, it issued another notice to the said officers calling upon them to remain present in the office of CEC on 11th April 2025 at 15:30 hours.

6. Again, the game of passing the buck does not stop. The Chief Secretary in the affidavit blames it on the staff of his office and states that the notice was never presented before him. Furthermore, the affidavit does not state as to what action the Chief Secretary has taken against such an officer/official.

7. The Chief Secretary, further in the affidavit, comments on the proposal made by the Forest Department authorising DFO, Nuh to initiate the proceedings against the CEO, Zila Parishad, Nuh; DRO, Nuh; ACO, Nuh and Sarpanch Gram Panchayat, Basaimeo and further initiate disciplinary action against officials/officers of staff of several other departments like the development and Panchayat, officers of Revenue Department, Environmental Department and that of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board.

8. Thereafter, the Chief Secretary attempts to put the blame on the DFO by stating that the DFO should have been the first person to take action when a wide road had been constructed through a forest area, which had remained closed for last 55 years or so.

9. If that be the approach we may simply remind t

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2025 Supreme(SC) 1006

SUPREME COURT OF INDIABhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, CJ., Augustine George Masih, J.In Re : T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad - PetitionerVs.Union Of India & Ors. - RespondentWrit Petition(S)(Civil) No(S). 202 Of 1995Decided On : 29-05-2025

Public officials have a duty to act against illegal activities affecting ecology, and accountability must be enforced to prevent further environmental harm.

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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, CJ., Augustine George Masih, J.
In Re : T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad - Petitioner
Vs.
Union Of India & Ors. - Respondent
Writ Petition(S)(Civil) No(S). 202 Of 1995
Decided On : 29-05-2025