The Supreme Court of India has banned apple tree cutting in the Himachal Pradesh state. The Court ruled that the state government will oversee the management of apple trees that are planted in forest lands. It also directed the government to auction the fruits of trees which were grown trespassing on government land -but not the trees themselves.
This has come after a petition in the Supreme Court by the former Deputy Mayor of Shimla, Tikender Singh Panwar, who filed a petition together with another petitioner in the Supreme Court, challenging an order issued by the Himachal High Court, which allowed cutting down of trees. Following the hearing, Supreme court made a verdict that the apple trees should not be destroyed. This decision entirely stops the felling of the apple trees in this state.
After the precedence of the earlier High Court ruling, the apple trees grown in the forest in some of the areas were now being cut. Apple orchards filled with fruit bearing trees had already been cleared and this was being continued until this Supreme Court order stopped it.
4,500 Apple Trees Already Cut
Some 4,500 apple trees were already cut down (at the instruction of the High Court). The initial order was permitting the felling of trees that were planted in the region covering almost 3,800 bighas of forest area a process that is to be discontinued.
Public Protest Against Cutting Fruit-Laden Trees
The locals had been demonstrating against the cutting down of trees bearing fruits (apple trees). But, there was an ongoing activity of the Forest Department in accordance with the High Court order. The petitioners who had a senior advocate Subhash Chandran to defend them in the Supreme Court were against cutting the trees.
Apple Trees Cut from Forest Land in Kotkhai and Kumarsain
After the High Court order, apple trees grown on the forest lands were defoliated in Chaithla (Kotkhai) and Badagaon (Kumarsain) in Shimla district. The decision had approved the felling of 3,800 bighas of forest where trees were to be chopped. This move was stopped now by the intervention of the Supreme Court.
