The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and four others accused in the 2G case to each plant 3,000 trees here as penalty for not filing their responses on the ED and CBI appeals against their acquittal in the 2G case.

Justice Najmi Waziri ordered that the plantation drive be carried out in Delhi’s South Ridge forest area. It also granted a final opportunity to Mr. Balwa, businessman Rajiv Agarwal and three companies — Dynamix Reality Pvt. Ltd., DB Reality and Nihar Constructions — to file their response on the case.

The High Court also directed former Telecom Minister A. Raja’s erstwhile private secretary R.K. Chandolia to plant 300 trees, while director of Kusegaon Fruits Asif Balwa will have to plant 500 trees. Mr. Agarwal have to plant another 500 trees over his 3,000 trees.

The direction came while granting final opportunity to Mr. Chandolia, Mr. Balwa and Mr. Agarwal to file responses in the CBI’s case.

The court directed all the individuals and firms to report to the Deputy Conservator of Forests (South) on February 15 for this purpose.

Maintenance of trees

“The plants shall be of deciduous indigenous variety and they shall be of nursery age of three and a half years old and have a height of at least six feet. They will ensure the maintenance of trees till the rainy season,” Justice Waziri said.

He said that till now he had asked litigants in various cases to plant 39,000 trees. The court had listed the case for March 26.

The court was hearing the Central probe agencies’ plea challenging a special CBI court’s order acquitting Mr. Raja and others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. The CBI has contended that the Special CBI Court did not appreciate the evidence it had put forward establishing the alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation process.