India, April 16 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Telangana government for justifying tree felling across 100 acres of the 400-acre ecologically sensitive Kancha Gachibowli near the Hyderabad Central University in violation of environmental norms and warned the chief secretary and other top bureaucrats could face "temporary imprisonment" if the damage was not addressed through a restoration plan to be submitted in four weeks.

A bench of justices Bhushan R Gavai and Augustine George Masih ordered no further tree felling and the state's wildlife warden to take immediate steps to protect the wildlife in the deforested area. It rejected the state's argument that thousands of trees felled were under an exempted category and it d...