New Delhi, May 12 -- In a significant order on tree protection in the national capital, the Delhi High Court has stayed a recently issued government Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) that allowed pruning of certain tree branches without prior approval, saying the notification appeared to run contrary to an earlier binding judgment of the Court.

Justice Jasmeet Singh passed the order while hearing a contempt petition moved by Bhavreen Kandhari against officials, including Vijay Kumar Bidhuri.

The petitioner drew the Court's attention to a May 29, 2023 judgment in Prof. Dr Sanjeev Bagai & Ors. vs. Department of Environment, Govt. NCT of Delhi & Ors., where the High Court had held that there was no provision under the Delhi Preservation o...