HC initiates PIL on ‘tree felling' by a realtor in Gurugram

The Punjab and Haryana high court has initiated suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) on a news report about environmentalists and locals opposing reported felling of trees in Gurugram by a realtor.
The report carried on June 12 by an English daily had stated that residents and environmentalists have launched protests over allegations of the process of felling of nearly 2,000 trees on an estimated 40 acre of land in DLF Phase 5 in Gurugram.
The report said representatives of the Aravali Bachao Citizen's Movement also staged a protest outside a Haryana minister's residence and have also written to chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and union minister for environment for their intervention. The report had also quoted a senior officer of forest department of Haryana government claiming that it was not a forest land and was owned by the DLF for years.
The HC vacation bench of justice Anil Kshetarpal and justice Aman Chaudhary while issuing notice for June 26, said that the issue raised in the petition was being taken up as PIL and listed it for June 26 for responses from the commissioner, municipal corporation, Gurugram and managing director, DLF Limited.

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