Uttarakhand High Court
4 Th Apri L vs Union Of I Ndia & Ot Hers on 4 April, 2025
I N TH E H I GH COURT OF UTTARAKH AN D
AT N AI N I TAL
H ON 'BLE TH E CH I EF JUSTI CE SRI G. N AREN D AR
AN D
H ON 'BLE SRI JUSTI CE PAN KAJ PUROH I T
W RI T PETI TI ON ( PI L) N O. 3 7 OF 2 0 2 5
4 TH APRI L, 2 0 2 5
Reenu Paul ...... Pet it ioner
Versus
Union of I ndia & ot hers ...... Respondent s
Counsel for t he pet it ioner : Mr. Abhij ay Negi, Ms. Snigdha
Tiwar i and Arm aan Prat ap Singh,
learned counsels
Counsel for t he respondent s : Mr. Raj esh Sharm a, learned
St anding Counsel for t he Union of
I ndia / respondent No 1
: Mr. C.S. Rawat , learned Chief
St anding Counsel assist ed by Mr.
B.S. Par ihar , learned St anding
Counsel for St at e of Ut t arakhand /
respondent Nos. 2 and 3
: Mr. Naresh Pant and Mr. Raunak
Pant , learned counsel for
respondent No. 4
The Cour t m a de t he follow ing:
ORD ER: ( pe r H on'ble The Chie f Just ice Sr i G. N a r e nda r )
1. Pursuant t o our earlier order dat ed 28.03.2025, t he
PCCF ( Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden, Ut t arakhand, Mr.
Ranj an Kum ar Mishra, and t he Proj ect Direct or NHAI , Mr.
Pankaj Mourya had filed t heir affidavit s.
2. Perusal of t he affidavit s would, prim a facie, reveal
t hat t he suggest ions of t he Court are being sought t o be
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t aken forward and t he Proj ect Direct or, NHAI has also
brought on board t he Forest Research I nst it ut e in order t o
ut ilize t heir expert ise in t he m at t er for t ranslocat ing /
t ransplant ing t he t rees t hat m ay be lost ot herwise due t o
cut t ing and rem oval.
3. The fact rem ains t hat t he act ual civil const ruct ion of
t he proj ect is yet t o com m ence and it is prudent t hat all
t he boxes are t icked before t he civil works can be st art ed,
and scope for obj ect ions or lit igat ion would t hereby be
oblit erat ed. This Court deem s it appropriat e, in view of
t he fact t hat huge sum of public m oney would be involved
in t he execut ion of t he proj ect , hence it is bet t er t hat all
t he precaut ionary m easures are put in place and,
t hereaft er, t he proj ect can be expedit ed wit hout any
hiccups or hurdles. The NHAI , t he Forest Depart m ent and
Mr. Ranj an Kum ar Mishra, PCCF ( Wildlife) shall furt her
undert ake t he exercise along wit h t he FRI and t ry t o
ident ify t he m axim um num ber of t rees t hat can be saved.
4. The pet it ioner counsel m ay also look int o t he
affidavit s t hat have been filed and m ay also m ake
suggest ions.
5. Part ies are perm it t ed t o file t heir obj ect ions t o t he
int ervent ion applicat ion preferred by Mr. Jai Raj ,
int ervent ionist , who is a form er PCCF and HoFF
Ut t arakhand, and is present ly heading a NGO 'Jan Seva
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Manch, Dehradun', and t he above obj ect ive of t he
int ervent ionist is t o share his expert ise and knowledge in
order t o ensure safet y of t he flora and fauna in t he forest
of Dehradun, m ore part icularly, t hat ext ent of t he forest
involved in t he proj ect .
6. The int ervent ionist is at libert y t o set fort h his
suggest ions for a safe execut ion of t he proj ect and for
ensuring t he safet y of flora and fauna. The suggest ions
m ay be put by way of an affidavit , and t he sam e m ay be
shared wit h t he Proj ect Direct or NHAI and t he PCCF
( Wildlife) Mr. Ranj an Kum ar Mishra, and a copy m ay also
be furnished t o t he St anding Counsel for t he St at e, Forest
Depart m ent , and t he pet it ioner counsel.
7. Obj ect ions, if any, m ay be filed wit hin t wo weeks.
8. List t he m at t er on 05.05.2025.
________________
G. N AREN D AR, C.J.
______________ PAN KAJ PU ROH I T, J.
Dt : 4 TH APRI L, 2025 Negi