Supreme Court: A special bench of Arun Mishra and Ashok Bhushan, JJ has been constituted to hear the plea against the cutting of trees in Mumbai’s Aarey colony for the city’s metro rail project. The bench will sit tomorrow during the Dussehra break to hear the matter urgently after a group of law students wrote to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi seeking the top court’s intervention in the matter and the cutting of trees to be suspended immediately.
The Bombay High Court on Friday had rejected four petitions challenging the Mumbai civic body’s Tree Committee order approving the cutting of trees in the colony to make space for Mumbai Metro’s car shed in the area. Authorities in Mumbai, in a midnight move on Friday, began cutting trees after the Bombay High Court order. 29 people have been arrested for protesting against the move and were sent to judicial custody. Many other were were reportedly detained. The activists say cutting trees at Aarey Colony is illegal.
The Court will assemble tomorrow at 10:00 AM to hear the matter.
(With inputs from NDTV)