Revenue Principal Secretary A Jayathilak issued the controversial order permitting the felling of protected trees on assigned land in 2020 despite warnings from the district collector that it would pave the way for widespread tree felling across Kerala and undermine cases registered under the Kerala Land Conservancy Act.

Letters written by the then Wayanad District Collector Adeela Abdullah to the Revenue Principal Secretary and the Land Revenue Commissioner have emerged during an examination of files related to the conspiracy behind the Muttil tree-felling case.

The first permission for felling trees on assigned land was granted through a circular issued by the Revenue Department on March 11, 2020. Although the High Court later quashed the circular, then Revenue Principal Secretary A Jayathilak proceeded with steps to issue the controversial order based on applications submitted by farmers from various districts, including Wayanad. The controversial order was issued on October 24, 2020.

Just before this, on September 3, 2020, the Wayanad Collector had written to the Principal Secretary. Ignoring the seriousness of the issues raised in the letter, the Principal Secretary later sought an explanation from the Collector for not taking action on applications for tree felling. Adeela Abdullah elaborated on the issues she had raised with the Principal Secretary in another letter she wrote to the Land Revenue Commissioner on December 15.