Second FIR against Embassy Group for illegal tree felling in Kadugodi forest

An FIR has been registered against Embassy Group by the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Forest Cell for illegal felling of trees in the Kadugodi Reserve Forest area. This is the second case linked to tree felling in the same forest patch since 2007. The latest FIR pertains to the felling of 110 trees. 

As per the officials, around 400 fully grown trees were documented across the 78-acre forest parcel during a survey conducted in 2006–07. This figure did not include smaller trees, saplings, and seedlings that also fall under the definition of a “tree” as per the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976, which classifies any woody plant of at least 5.5 cm diameter and 1 m in height as a tree.

The first instance of illegal tree-felling was detected in 2007, when the Karnataka Forest Department booked a case against Concord India Private Ltd., the company then associated with the land. A penalty of ₹1 lakh was imposed, following which tree-felling activity reportedly ceased for some time.

In 2020, the erstwhile BBMP Forest Cell issued permission for the felling of 42 trees in the area. Forest officials said that say this permission was issued by circumventing statutory safeguards, as the law mandates a public advertisement and hearing proposals involving the removal of more than 50 trees.

Using this permission, hundreds of trees were allegedly felled between 2022 and 2025, exceeding the number authorised. The investigation has also found that no permits were obtained for transporting the timber.  

This comes amid an ongoing battle over the ownership and status of the larger Kadugodi forest land. The Embassy Group had begun work on an IT park on 78.54 acres of the same land four months after the Forest Department decided to file an appeal before the Supreme Court to reclaim 449 acres of forest land in Kadugodi valued at over ₹22,000 crore. 

The Embassy group was not available for comments.