Delhi LG unaware of Court's tree cutting permission: Chief Secy to SC
New Delhi: The Chief Secretary of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Naresh Kumar, informed the Supreme Court that Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena was not made aware of the necessity to obtain the court's permission for felling trees in the southern Ridge area. This statement was made in an affidavit filed in response to a contempt petition against the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for illegally cutting trees in the region.
During previous hearings, a bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan observed that official correspondences suggested the trees were felled following oral instructions from the LG during his site visit on February 3. The court had questioned whether the LG was informed of the court's orders requiring permission from the Tree Officer before cutting trees.
The Chief Secretary's affidavit, filed on July 30, clarified that during the LG's visit to the project site, no officials informed him of the legal requirements to obtain court permission. The affidavit emphasized that directives from higher authorities to expedite project completion do not imply bypassing statutory provisions.
Further complicating the issue, the contractor, M/s Satya Prakash and Bros Pvt. Ltd., submitted that they received emails from DDA Engineer-in-Charge Manoj Kumar Yadav, referring to the LG's visit and instructions to clear trees. The court had previously expressed displeasure with the DDA's handling of the situation, indicating an attempt to protect higher-ups.
The matter is part of a broader legal matter, with Justice BR Gavai's bench also initiating contempt proceedings over the tree felling. The Supreme Court continues to seek clarification on the matter.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
