India, May 29 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday held the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in contempt for illegally felling over 1,000 trees in Delhi's Ridge area without its permission, calling the move a blatant breach of environmental norms and judicial orders. However, the court spared stringent action against top DDA officials, citing the "overwhelming public interest" served by a new road leading to a multi-specialty hospital for the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).

A bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said the illegal tree-felling for the road to the Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS) was a "classic case of institutional missteps and administrative overreach."

"It is only the ov...