Srinagar, June 2 -- The destruction of 3,500 apple plants in Chadoora deserves swift justice. Kashmir cannot build a stronger rural economy while criminal acts of this scale pass without accountability.

Last year, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment on illegal tree felling.

Hearing a case involving the cutting of 454 trees in the protected Taj Trapezium Zone, a bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh per illegally felled tree. The court accepted the recommendation of the Central Empowered Committee and made an observation that drew national attention.

Trees, the court said, create environmental wealth that takes generations to build. Green cover lost through reckless d...