Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Forests and Wildlife Department, Sudhir Rajpal, appeared before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) after a Haryana Forest Service (HFS) officer facing allegations of granting permission to fell trees filed an affidavit on behalf of senior department officials in the case.
The officer, Vishal Kaushik, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Morni-Pinjore, is facing allegations of permitting the felling of trees at Muwas village of Morni (Panchkula). Despite this, he filed an affidavit dated November 15, 2025, before the NGT on behalf of respondents, including senior officers of the department and a Range Forest Officer.
The issue came up during the hearing of Sheesh Pal vs State of Haryana before the Principal Bench of the NGT, headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Counsel for the applicant argued that since the main allegation of granting illegal permission was against Kaushik, he should not have been authorised to file a common reply on behalf of the remaining officers who were expected to examine the allegations against him.
Seeking clarity on the matter, the Tribunal directed the ACS, Environment and Forests, to appear virtually.
During the hearing on July 20, Rajpal told The Tribunal that authorising the DFO to file the reply was done as part of routine procedure. He assured the Bench that greater care would be taken in future and informed it that respondents Number 1 to 4 had subsequently filed a separate reply through the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF).
Taking note of the submission, the Tribunal exempted the ACS from further personal appearance until further orders. The next hearing is scheduled for September 24.
The case stems from allegations that around 2,000 eucalyptus tress were illegally felled on private land in Muwas village, an area covered under Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act.
Following the complaint, Conservator of Forests (North) Jitender Ahlawat visited the site on March 21, 2025, and reported that nearly 2,000 of around 4,000 trees on the land had been cut. He also pointed to the use of electric saw machines to fell the trees indiscriminately. When he contacted the contractor and labourers on the ground, they told him that they had permission from DFO Vishal Kaushik, dated April 8, 2024.
Based on these findings, Ahlawat issued show-cause notices to Kaushik and Range Forest Officer Muneer Gupta on March 21, 2025.
However, three days later, the then PCCF constituted a fresh inquiry committee headed by IFS officer Vasvi Tyagi, with IFS officers Vijay Laxmi and Virender Gill, and Research Associate Venkateshwar Pandey as members.
In its report dated March 26, 2025, the committee concluded that the trees felled comprised coppice crops rather than 2,000 standing trees. It found 376 stumps with 772 coppice shoots and found no evidence that the DFO's office had granted permission for the felling.
Giving a clean chit to Kaushik, the report said, “The examination of office records entails that there has been no permission granted from the office of DFO Morni. The preliminary inquiry does not prove involvement of forest staff as the villages have been practicing agro-forestry since 2005-06,” said the report. It added that permission was once given on April 8, 2024, but later it was withdrawn on April 15, 2024.
The Forest Department later filed a case against the owner of the land in a Panchkula court.