New Delhi: In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court on Thursday halted all development activities in Hyderabad’s Kancha Gachibowli after shocking reports of hundreds of acres of forests being bulldozed overnight for an IT park. The bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih issued a suo motu order, warning the Telangana Chief Secretary of personal liability if directives are violated.
The Court asked the Chief Secretary of the State of Telangana to file an affidavit answering the following specific queries :
Why 400 acres were cleared without EIA approval or forest permissions.
What happened to felled trees (photos show peacocks/deers fleeing).
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Why officers with no forest expertise were on the oversight committee.
What the State is doing with the felled trees?
"The bench also asked, 'Forest or not, have you taken requisite permission for felling trees?...100 acres in 2-3 days is significant...We would only remind one sentence - however high one may be, the law is higher,' Justice Gavai said."
State ignored SC’s February 3 order banning deforestation without compensatory afforestation. Telangana formed a forest committee on March 15 but started razing trees before identification. Students opposing the felling were also detained, per intervenors.
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The government claimed the land was "industrial" (acquired in 2012) and denied it was a forest—but failed to produce environmental clearances. The bench retorted: "Forest or not, where’s the tree-felling permission?"
This mirrors TN Godavarman case violations, where states were mandated to protect forest-like areas. With Google Earth images showing devastation, the SC’s intervention underscores that no IT park is worth ecological genocide and bureaucrats will face consequences for illegal orders.
