Overview
- The bench imposed an interim bar on cutting, pruning, transporting or transplanting any tree in Bhopal without its permission.
- Seven senior officials, including the PWD executive engineer, Bhopal municipal commissioner, principal chief conservator of forests and the West Central Railway GM, must appear on November 26.
- The state told the court the collector permitted transplantation of 448 trees, that 253 were transplanted and that ten times the number that could not be moved would be planted.
- The court directed the government to file satellite-based photographs with GPS details to verify each claimed transplantation after an intervenor disputed any genuine relocation.
- The bench noted the absence of a tree-plantation policy and flagged allegations that officials labeled felling as 'transportation' and replanted stripped trunks to bypass required approvals.