In 2023, the Delhi HC had set aside these guidelines and held that “no pruning of trees will be permitted in Delhi except in accordance with the DPT Act”. (File Photo) The Delhi High Court on May 6 stayed a Delhi government notification that had quietly revived an exemption for pruning trees without prior permission — an exemption the court had already struck down in 2023. Justice Jasmeet Singh noted that the fresh May 2025 notification “is in teeth” of the Delhi HC’s 2023 judgment, “which has attained finality and is binding” on the authorities. “By virtue of the said notification, the respondent is undoing the judgment dated 29.05.2023 which to my mind cannot be so done,” Justice Singh recorded, while staying the notification. The Delhi Preservation of Trees (DPT) Act, 1994, provides statutory protection to trees in Delhi. Under Section 9 of the Act, any person who wants to cut or remove or dispose of a tree has to seek permission from the Tree Officer concerned.…