New Delhi, May 28 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials for illegally felling trees in the ecologically sensitive Delhi Ridge area without obtaining the Court's permission. The contempt proceedings relate to a road-widening project undertaken to facilitate access to the CAPFIMS Paramilitary Hospital. A bench, comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, held that the conduct of DDA officials amounted to criminal contempt, categorising it as a "classic case of institutional missteps and administrative overreach." The Court expressed serious concern over the wilful and conscious concealment of the tree-felling from the judiciary. "As a nation rooted in rule of law, there is...