Expressing deep concern over the large-scale deforestation occurring across hundreds of acres in Kancha Gachibowli, Hyderabad, the Supreme Court has issued an immediate halt to all developmental activities in the area. The apex court, on April 3, passed this order while registering a suo motu case regarding the matter.

"Until further orders, no activity of any sort, except the protection of trees already existing, shall be undertaken by the State," directed a bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih.

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The Court made it clear that failure to comply with this directive would lead to the Chief Secretary of Telangana being held personally liable. The State government has been asked to file an affidavit answering key questions, including:

• What was the compelling urgency to undertake developmental activities, including the removal of trees, in the alleged forest area?
• Was an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certification obtained for the project?
• Were the necessary permissions secured from forest authorities or relevant local statutes before tree felling?
• What was the necessity of including specific officers in the committee formed by the Telangana government, especially when they seemingly had no role in forest identification?
• What is being done with the felled trees?

Earlier in the day, the bench had issued an interim order staying tree felling and directed the Telangana High Court’s Registrar (Judicial) to conduct an on-site inspection and submit a report by 3:30 PM. When the matter was revisited at 3:45 PM, the Court found that large-scale development activities were indeed underway.

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The report submitted by the Registrar (Judicial) painted an "alarming picture", showing a significant number of trees being felled using heavy machinery such as JCBs. Disturbingly, photographs revealed peacocks and deer fleeing from the region as the destruction continued.

The Supreme Court noted that these findings indicated the presence of a forest inhabited by wildlife in the area. The Court further referred to its earlier order from March 4, which held that State Chief Secretaries would be personally liable if statutory committees were not formed to identify forest lands. Another ruling, dated February 3, barred states from reducing forest cover unless compensatory land was allocated for afforestation.

The Court expressed doubts over the urgency to clear the land, particularly when the statutory process of forest identification was yet to be completed. Although Senior Advocate Gaurav Agarwal, representing the Telangana government, argued that the area was not classified as a forest, the Court was not convinced.

"Forest or not, whether you have taken requisite permission for felling trees...100 acres in 2-3 days is something...we would only remind one sentence - howsoever high one may be, not above the law," Justice Gavai asserted.

Additionally, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan informed the Court that students protesting against the deforestation were being detained by authorities.

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Background of the Issue

The case stems from a government order issued by the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC), which sought to allocate 400 acres of green cover in Kancha Gachibowli for IT infrastructure development. Reports suggest that over the past few days, large-scale clearing of trees had begun, leading to public protests and legal interventions.

Yesterday, the Telangana High Court had also issued a stay on tree felling, a decision now reinforced by the Supreme Court’s order.

As per available records, TSIIC had acquired the land in 2012 but issued an order in 2024 to alienate the land for IT development. The rapid escalation of tree cutting led to multiple Public Interest Litigations (PILs) being filed before the High Court.

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The petitioners argue that the Telangana government has blatantly disregarded previous Supreme Court rulings, particularly TN Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India and Ashok Kumar Sharma v. Union of India & Others. These rulings mandated that all states form committees to identify forests and forest-like areas based on their dictionary definition.

Additionally, the petitioners pointed out that the state government had failed to conduct an environmental assessment as per the EIA Notification, 2006, before proceeding with the project.

The State, on the other hand, maintains that the land was designated as "industrial land" and that the petitioners' claims were largely based on Google Maps imagery.

Case : IN RE KANCHA GACHIBOWLI FOREST STATE OF TELANGANA |SMW(C) No. 3/2025