A special bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta examined the entire episode and sought a status report with pictures on plantation, transplantation, and felling of trees in the Aarey Colony area of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared on behalf of BMC, assured the bench that no further cutting of trees has taken place in Aarey colony and added that complete status quo is being maintained following the apex court’s last order.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi also assured the court that “absolute” status quo has been maintained and that no trees have been cut since the top court’s previous order.

“There are no building projects, these are absolutely false allegations. The only project is that of Metro car shed,” he said.

Defending the construction of Metro shed project for expansion of Metro services in the city, Rohatgi said seven lakh vehicles are off the roads in Delhi because of metro services. It helps in cutting air pollution.

After hearing the arguments presented by legal representatives, the SC bench clarified that there is no stay on metro project and the stay order is only limited to the felling of trees in Aarey colony.

The matter will again be heard in court on November 15. On October 7, the SC had ordered the Maharashtra government to not cut any more trees in the Aarey area.