SC gives green signal to UP to set up wood based industries with Rs 3000 Cr investment [Read Judgement]

SC sets aside NGT order passed on 'lopsided' view

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has on Friday gave a green signal to the Uttar Pradesh government to move ahead with its March 1, 2019 decision to set up new wood based industries in the state, with an expected investment of Rs 3,000 crore and employment generation capacity of more than 80,000 people especially in rural areas.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna allowed an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government against the "lopsided" view taken by the National Green Tribunal.

The top court set aside the green panel's orders of February 18, 2020, March 18, 2020 and December 21, 2020 which had quashed the notification and dismissed the review applications as well by ignoring the state's concerns and support by the Union government.

"We find that for the sustainable development of the State and on account of the availability of the timber, sanction of granting licenses can be permitted to continue. However, as a responsible State, it needs to ensure that environmental concerns are duly attended to," the bench said.

The court directed the state government to ensure that while granting permission for felling trees of the prohibited species, including mango and jamun, it should strictly ensure that the permission is granted only when the conditions specified in January 7, 2020 notification are satisfied.

The court said the applicants getting the license should "scrupulously follow" the mandate in the said notification of planting 10 trees against one and maintaining them for five years.

In its judgement, the bench reminded the state and its authorities that it is their duty to protect the environment.

"The State and its authorities should ensure that necessary steps are taken for arresting the problem of declining forest and tree cover. The State and its authorities should make meaningful and concerted efforts to ensure that the green cover is not reduced and to ensure that it increases. The conservation of forest plays a vital role in 
maintaining the ecology. It acts as processors of the water cycle and soil and also as providers of livelihoods," the bench said.

The court also asked the NGT to look into credentials and bona fide of the applicants in such type of cases which affected rights of many people.

"In the present case, there is scope to infer that the litigation could be at the behest of the existing Wood Based Industries who wanted to avoid competition and continue to get raw material at a cheaper rate... it could be at the behest of such industries in the adjoining Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana where lakhs of tons of timber is exported from the State of Uttar Pradesh. There is scope to infer that it could be in the interest of middlemen who are engaged in exporting timber from Uttar Pradesh to Haryana," the bench added.

The court also relied upon a report which showed that approximately five to six lakh metric tons of timber per year is exported to Yamuna Nagar from the western districts of Uttar Pradesh, i.e. Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Shamli, Baghpat and Meerut as there is no sufficient market for this produce in the said area.

The court heard senior advocates Vikas Singh, P S Patwalia and Rana Mukherjee, appearing  on behalf of the State of Uttar Pradesh, V Giri, Syed Waseem Qadri, V K Uniyal, Vinay Navare, V K Shukla, learned Senior Counsels, Ms Prerna Singh, and Rudraksh Gupta, learned counsels appearing on behalf of the appellants, who were granted provisional licenses.

Senior advocates Dhruv Mehta Brijender Chahar, represented Uday Education and Welfare Trusts and others who filed the plea before the NGT.
 

[Read Judgement]