Tree cutting applications

There was an interesting case of request for tree cutting permission. There were about thirty of them increasing the pendency of my revenue court. It turned out that two buyers of trees had been instrumental behind all of the thirty applications. All of the requests for tree cutting, allegedly due to the problem they were to crops, were from a locus of few villages. All of the thirty applications were made on two dates. Fourteen of them claimed that the wood would be used personally, but also mentioned the route through which it would be taken to Gujarat. Since it was an apparent effort to subvert the system, it was recommended that the permission be not given for tree cutting. It is distressing that the Tehsildar and all of the revenue staff there below could not find something as stark as this. One is not sure if it is malafide collusion or a bonafide overlook!