The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused the BMC's plea to vacate a stay imposed on the working of Mumbai civic body's Tree Authority that has the power to approve cutting of trees for development projects or repair and upgradation work.

A vacation bench of justices A S Gadkari and N J Jamadar, however, refused to restrain the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from cutting trees in Aarey area for the proposed Metro car shed and some allied works. The bench was hearing applications filed by the Mumbai Metro Corporation Limited, the BMC, and environmental activist Zoru Bhatena, seeking various reliefs related to the Tree Authority. On October 24, 2018, a regular bench of the high court restrained the Tree Authority from taking any decision on the application to cut trees until it had independent experts as nominated members.