The KBR petitioners refuse to file a complaint with the CEC

A tree that was felled as part of the KBR National Park in Hyderabad. File | Photo credit: The

The petitioners to the Supreme Court for the ecologically sensitive zone of the KBR National Park have clarified through a statement that they have not filed any complaint against the felling of trees near the park as per the recent visit of the Supreme Court appointed members of the Central Empowered Committee to the site.

Rather, the visit was an outcome of an e-mail communication dated 15 June 2026 addressed by the petitioners to the Commissioner, GHMC, PCCF (HoFF), District Collector, Hyderabad and Divisional Forest Officer, Hyderabad, seeking information on the reasons for felling one tree in the ESZ, the permissions obtained, the conduct of prior inspection and whether any prior inspection was carried out. The CEC was one of several authorities that were merely copied in this communication, the statement said.

CEC member Anjan Mohanty reportedly acknowledged the same during his interaction with the petitioners on Sunday (July 26, 2026). The CEC program was circulated to the Chief Secretary, PCCF, District Magistrate, Divisional Forest Officer and Field Director, KBR National Park, but the petitioners were not on the distribution list and no notification about the program was served to them, the statement said.

The petitioners received the invitation for the meeting on Sunday (July 26, 2026) through a night notice without any agenda, formal or informal, being served to the petitioners at any stage. No meeting has been scheduled for Monday (July 27, 2026) as reported.

Due to the suddenness of the invitation and the absence of any formal notice, only one of the three petitioners could attend the meeting in the presence of GHMC and forest department officials. The petitioner was explicitly informed that all questions that appeared in the proposal for extraordinary leave are excluded from the discussion. The discussion was limited to a single tree that was cut down in the ESZ.

Published – 28 Jul 2026 08:43 IST