The Madhya Pradesh High Court has imposed a statewide stay on the felling, pruning, or transportation of trees in the entire Bhopal area without its prior permission. The division bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf, expressed grave concern that state authorities appeared more interested in destroying vegetation than in protecting or transplanting trees, citing a widespread felling campaign linked to development works. The court’s action was triggered by a suo motu petition based on a newspaper report revealing that the Public Works Department (PWD) had allegedly cut down 488 trees without obtaining the legally required approvals.
These directions came during a hearing in which the court emphasized that environmental preservation was being sidelined in the purported rush toward infrastructure development. The judges pointed out that, despite earlier orders, state authorities were continuing to destroy vast swathes of green cover. According to their assessment, the pattern of tree removal appeared to be systematic and unrestrained, rather than an incidental effect of construction activity.
The court recalled an earlier directive asking the PWD to file an affidavit detailing both the number of trees already cut and the number that remained proposed for removal. The Court’s earlier order had also called for clarification on the presence or absence of a state-level Tree Plantation Policy; in response, the State conceded that no such policy exists at present. In the present hearing, the bench highlighted evidence suggesting that 244 more trees were slated for removal in Bhopal as part of a residential development project, despite the absence of required permissions from the nine-member committee or the Tree Officer appointed under the Madhya Pradesh Protection of Trees Act (Urban), 2001.
Further troubling to the Court was the claim that authorities were bypassing the legal framework by recategorizing “cutting” of trees as “transportation,” a shift which, they noted, might sidestep regulatory requirements. The court found merit in photographs submitted before it, which showed that in the name of transplantation, trees were being stripped bare of branches and leaves, with only trunks being re-planted elsewhere — a process that hardly qualified as genuine preservation.
The bench also referred to a communication from late October 2025 between senior officials from the PWD and the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, which highlighted that trees obstructing construction were to be “shifted.” That letter acknowledged a plan to use the resulting timber, raising serious doubts about the stated environmental motives for the transplantation exercise. The court described the correspondence as indicating a lack of genuine concern for vegetation, suggesting instead that the authorities were more driven by developmental ends than ecological sensitivity.
In a firm show of accountability, the High Court summoned multiple senior officials for the next hearing. The persons called to appear include the Executive Engineer of the PWD, two senior officials from the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, the Commissioner of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the Principal Secretary of the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, and the General Manager of West Central Railways. The court has scheduled the next hearing for November 26, 2025.
Through its order, the court has made it clear that any further removal or transport of trees in the Bhopal area cannot proceed without explicit court authorization. It has refused to allow the unchecked felling of trees under the guise of development, insisting instead on transparency, adherence to regulatory norms, and accountability from officials at the highest levels.
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