Mumbai: In a rare judgment under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, a 40-year-old Powai man has been acquitted of the charge of poisoning a peepal tree (Ficus religiosa) in 2018, leading to its death.
Abhishek Singh was accused of drilling a hole into the 17-year-old, over four-metre tall tree in IIT Market locality and injecting poison into it in June 2018.
FIR filed after three written complaints from residents
Residents claimed that the tree shed its leaves and died within a month. ABMC horticulture assistant filed an FIR after the Garden Department receiving three written complaints from residents.
The prosecution examined seven witnesses in support of its case. Among the reasons cited for the acquittal by the magistrate court was that no one saw the accused commit the act. The court noted that the chemical analyser report had come negative for poisoning. It also considered that there was no census number of the tree, hence no proof of its existence.
In the past, Singh had applied to the civic body to cut the tree and got permission only to trim its branches. The person who had planted the tree appeared as a witness in court and told the court that Singh had repeatedly complained to him that the tree was annoying him and that he would inject poison into it. The court did not find this witness believable because he had earlier claimed that he saw Singh drill the tree and poison it, only to recant later.
While deciding the case in Singh’s favour, Metropolitan Magistrate SB Patil said that just because he had applied for permission to cut down the tree, it cannot be held that he had the motive and had committed the act.
