The Bombay High Court on Thursday said there were discrepancies in Thane Tree Authority’s nomination system and ineligible members had been appointed in its committee. The court said of the 37 candidates who applied, only five had been declared eligible by the scrutiny committee.
The candidature of Ankita Jamdar, who stood first in Mumbai University, was rejected without valid reasons. The court said the entire decision making process and approach was doubtful.
A Division Bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Riyaz Chagla said though the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation of Trees Act was ratified in 1975, there has been no improvement in the tree cover till date. The court said any action affecting ecological balance was a violation of the fundamental rights of citizens.
The court has been dictating an order for the past two days on a public interest litigation filed by local resident Rohit Joshi that alleges that the authority had illegally appointed several non-qualified members without following due process. Mr. Joshi said the move had posed a serious danger to the preservation and protection of trees, which is the main objective of the Act.
On June 19, 2017, the commission had invited applications and the next day, the members were appointed by the commission. The court read out from the affidavit and said that the authority had forgotten the purpose of the creation of the tree authority.
The court said on April 9, 2017, the tree authority had passed an order pertaining to the entitlement of special invitees in the committee attending all meetings of the authority. Justice Oka said, “On October 9, 2017, of the six committee members, it was revealed by the scrutiny committee that four or five people were not eligible . Later they were given a back door entry by appointing them as special invitees.”
