In yet another major decision, the high court of Uttarakhand has cancelled the Dehradun master plan 2005-2025 and imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on officials who passed the master plan as the permission of the Central Government had not been taken at that time. The division bench of justice Rajiv Sharma and justice lokpal Singh also directed that the tea gardens of Dehradun should be restored to their original condition.

MC Ghildiyal from Dehradun had filed a petition in the high court which was taken up as a PIl. The petitioner had challenged the Dehradun master plan 2005-2025. During the preparation of the master plan, provisions of the existing Act of Uttar Pradesh were ignored along with the Central Government notifications of 1988 and 2001 in which the Dehradun valley had been declared an eco-sensitive zone. Considering this it was necessary to take the approval of the Central Government before implementing any such project. However, the State Government implemented the Dehradun master plan 2005-2025 without seeking approval of the Central Government.

Anomalies were carried out regarding about 124 acre land as in the case of the East Hope Town tea garden which was reportedly shifted to another location using heavy machinery.

 In its reply to the court, the State Government had stated that it had written to the Centre in September 2005 seeking approval for the master plan but as this could not be received in the next three years, the State Government implemented the master plan in 2008-2013.

 After hearing the matter, the division bench cancelled the Dehradun master plan 2005-2025 and imposed a penalty of Rs5lakh on officials concerned who passed the same. All relevant aspects should be considered while drafting the master plan, the court further directed.