Supreme Court imposes Rs 4.54 cr fine on man for cutting 454 trees

Guwahati: The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment, imposed a hefty fine of Rs 1 lakh per tree, totaling Rs 4.54 crore, on a man who illegally cut 454 trees in the protected Mathura-Vrindavan area.

Shiv Shankar Agarwal had unlawfully cut down 454 trees on private land in Mathura-Vrindavan's Dalmia Farms, out of which 32 were located on a roadside strip of protected forest land.

The bench, led by Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, rejected any leniency in this case, despite Agarwal admitting his error and seeking a reduction in the fine.

The Supreme Court has said that cutting a large number of trees is worse than killing human beings.

The top court stated that it would take at least 100 years for these trees to grow back.

"There should be no mercy in environmental cases. Felling a large number of trees is worse than killing a human," the bench said.

The defense argued that the offender admitted his mistake and pleaded for a reduction in the fine, but the court rejected the request, stating that tree-cutting is a serious environmental offense.

During the hearing, the court also revoked its December 2019 order, which had allowed the cutting of trees on non-forest lands within the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ).

The fine of Rs 1 lakh per tree was set after considering the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which had investigated the incident.

SC also authorized Agarwal to plant trees at a nearby location as part of his restitution.