Representation in Tree Authority in accordance with rules: HC

The Bombay High Court Friday held that the Tree Authority, constituted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), was not in violation of any rules in its present form.

A bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice N M Jamdar dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the current ratio of corporators and nominated expert members in the present Tree Authority.

The authority comprises 15 corporators and five nominated experts in the field of horticulture.

The Tree Authority is the body that grants permission for felling of trees to make way for development projects, repair work, etc.

The PIL, filed by activist Zoru Bhatena, had argued that the ratio was inadequate and that the BMC must get more expert members on board to ensure that permission for tree felling wasn't granted without adequate reasoning.

The court, however, said the present ratio was in accordance with the BMC's statutes.

It said the Tree Authority had been "properly constituted" and the ratio of corporators and nominated members was "not ambiguous".

The court said the inclusion of experts in the Tree Authority was not a "tug of war".

"The argument of learned counsel for the petitioner that since the rules envisage voting and in case of a tie, a casting vote by the chairman, there must be an equal representation of the representatives of the citizens, is premised on the assumption that the corporators would always gang up and overlook the material facts while deciding applications seeking permission to fell trees," the court said.

"We, however, in law, cannot proceed on the premise that the corporators, while dealing with issues of conserving the environment by saving trees, would always decide against it. Inclusion of expert members in the Tree Authority is not for a tug of war between the corporators and the expert members," it added.

The court said the legislative intent of including nominated members in the Tree Authority was that collective decision was "enriched by the special knowledge and practical experience of expert members".