Muttil tree felling case: SIT submits charge-sheets in 36 cases
The charge sheets include details of DNA test analyses conducted to determine the age of the trees, which revealed that two of them were over 500 years old.
The charge sheets include details of DNA test analyses conducted to determine the age of the trees, which revealed that two of them were over 500 years old.
The charge sheets include details of DNA test analyses conducted to determine the age of the trees, which revealed that two of them were over 500 years old.
Wayanad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Muttil tree-felling case on Tuesday submitted 36 separate charge-sheets in cases involving the Augustine brothers — Roji Augustine, Josekutty Augustine and Anto Augustine — before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court here.
Earlier, on December 4, 2023, the investigation team led by DySP V V Benny had submitted an 84,600-page charge-sheet treating the entire tree-felling episode as a single case. The cases have now been split for legal clarity and will be treated separately, it is learnt.
The charge-sheets include details of DNA test analyses conducted to determine the age of the trees, which revealed that two of them were over 500 years old. The documents name 12 accused and include a compact disc (CD) containing 5,200 pages of material, along with a list of 420 witnesses and 900 documents.
Apart from the Augustine brothers, the accused list includes then Muttil Village Officer K K Aji and Special Village Officer Sindhu. According to the charge-sheet, the Augustine brothers felled 41 rosewood trees in Muttil village in Wayanad district, citing a controversial Revenue Department order issued in October 2020 that permitted landowners to cut all trees — except sandalwood — that were either planted or self-grown after 1964. The order was repealed in February 2021.
The charge-sheet states that the accused allegedly cut and smuggled 204.635 cubic metres of rosewood worth ₹8 crore during November and December 2020 and January 2021. The Revenue, Police and Forest departments had registered more than 120 cases in connection with the illegal felling.
The seized timber, estimated to be worth around ₹15 crore, has been kept at the Forest Department’s timber depot at Kuppadi near Sulthan Bathery. The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Sulthan Bathery, had directed the Forest Department to keep the timber in safe custody.
The Revenue Department has initiated legal proceedings against the landowners, who are liable to pay hefty fines, and has already issued notices to the farmers.
In a recent setback to the accused, Wayanad Additional District Judge A V Mrudula, in a judgment dated January 31, dismissed an appeal filed by Roji Augustine seeking possession of the confiscated timber.
In her judgment, she stated: “No person shall be allowed to indulge in the nefarious act of depletion of forest wealth under the cover of circulars and government orders which do not have any overriding effect over the relevant statutes".