Aarey Protest: The necessary number of trees have already been cut

The two-judge bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Ashok Bhushan was constituted after a group of law students wrote to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi seeking the top court's intervention in the matter and the cutting of trees to be suspended immediately.

This comes a day after the Bombay High Court rejected an application moved by environmentalists seeking a stay on the cutting of trees.

Aarey Colony, a green belt in suburban Goregaon which has more than five lakh trees, together with Sanjay Gandhi National Park, is known as the green lungs of Mumbai.

The protests against cutting of trees also sparked Twitter campaigns and online 'petitions' such as #ArreyChipko #SaveAarey.