The tree-felling law is shelved: Punjab tells its High Court the chainsaws stay off while judges write the rules

A week after the Punjab and Haryana High Court called Punjab's new tree law 'draconian', the state government has backed down in open court. On 2 November, Punjab told Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor that the Punjab Protection of Trees Act, 2026 will be kept in abeyance — not used at all — while it is reconsidered, and that no permission to fell a tree has been granted under it. The judges said they will now frame detailed tree-felling guidelines for both Punjab and Haryana. The context is stark: tree and forest cover in Punjab is 3.67% and in Haryana 3.65%, against a national average of 25.17%. Until the court finishes, the older, stricter regime — prior permission first — stays in force.

SDG 15 · Life on land — Mechanism: legal ruling