Thane: A magistrate court acquitted a housing society and its secretary of charges related to illegal tree-felling, citing insufficient evidence and procedural lapses by the prosecution. The First Class Judicial Magistrate SS Patil delivered the verdict, bringing closure to a case pending since 2020. The judgment marked relief for the accused, who faced charges under environmental protection legislation.The Thane Municipal Corporation Tree Authority alleged that the housing society cut down multiple trees in 2019 without proper authorisation. While permission was granted for pruning certain trees on the society premises, authorities claimed the accused went beyond the approved scope and illegally felled several protected trees.The complaint stated that several trees, including rain tree, mango, neem, ashoka, and banyan, were illegally felled, being cut approximately 5 feet from ground level without necessary clearances under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act. However, key witnesses admitted during cross-examination that they did not personally visit the site during the alleged incident and filed the complaint based on documentation alone, raising questions about the reliability of evidence. The court noted several critical gaps in the prosecution’s evidence. The notice regarding illegal tree-felling was issued to a contractor rather than to the society or its office-bearers. There were discrepancies in dates mentioned in the spot inspection report. Most significantly, the prosecution failed to establish which specific trees fell under the society’s jurisdiction, as the housing complex comprises multiple buildings with separate administrative bodies. The court observed that it remained unclear whether the trees in question even fell within the housing society’s designated area of responsibility.
