Representative image | Photo: Mathrubhumi
New Delhi: Supreme Court refused to entertain the anticipatory bail plea of village officer KK Aji and special village officer KO Sindhu, both accused, in the Muttil Tree felling case. A bench comprising Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai rejected the bail plea and asked the accused to approach the court for regular bail.
Following this, the accused withdrew the bail plea submitted to the supreme court. According to the case, the accused was permitted to cut tress in Muttil without the permission of the state government. It was found that the state incurred a loss of Rs 8 crore as a result of this illegal act.
However, Lawyer PV Dinesh, representing Sindhu, alleged that they were following the order of the state government. He pointed out that the state only prohibits the cutting of sandalwood. "However, the tree permitted to be chopped down in Muttil were rosewood. It was also notified that state government will take department-level action if the officials fail to provide approval for felling tress other than sandalwood, " the lawyer added.
He pointed out that the accused prepared the survey sketch of the areas where the trees were identified. He also dismissed the phone call records concerning the case for being only a few seconds long.
"We are cooperating with the investigation. Therefore, we expect to receive an anticipatory bail," he said.
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