SC has ordered the main secretaries of states and administrators of the Union throughout the country to create special investigative teams to explore whether forest land owned by their relevant income departments were assigned to private parties for activities that are not flights. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In the judgment, the Supreme Court ordered the main secretaries of the states and administrators of the Union throughout the country to create special investigative teams to explore whether forest land held by the relevant income departments were assigned to private parties for activities that are not prevented.
The three -axis judge, headed by the main judge of India Bravai, ordered the authorities to take such forest land from private individuals and entities and handed them over by forest department.
“If it is found that the return of land ownership would not be in a greater public interest, the state government/trade union should receive land costs from persons/institutions that have been allocated and used for forest development purposes.”
The entire exercise must be completed by the year.
“The main secretaries of all states and administrators of all territories of the Union are ordered to consider special teams to ensure that all such transfers take place in the period of one year since today. No need to be used only for the purpose of afforestation.”
Using forest land for commercial purposes
The instructions were issued while declared an illegal assignment of 11.89 hectares of reserve forest land in Kondhwa Buduk in the Pune Maharashtra district for agricultural purposes in 1998 and its sale to builders next year.
The main judge Gavai said that the case was “a classic example of how the connection between politicians, bureaucrats and builders leads to the transformation of expensive forest land for commercial purposes…”
The Top Court canceled the environmental permit provided by the Ministry of the Environment and Forest builders in 2007 and also illegal. The Court of Justice ordered the country to be found to be transferred to the forest department.
“It was found that a huge section of land that is informed because“ forest land ”is still in possession of the income department. Such a situation creates a lot of complexity, as is evident in this matter. Despite the resistance of the forest department, the revenue department has assigned the land to private individuals/institutions for absence.
The Court said there was also a report of the Central Committee Committee, which was recorded through its Amicus Curiae, the main advocate K. Parameshwar, showing that “many forest lands were assigned to private individuals/institutions for purposes without regulations”.
This was done despite the order of the Supreme Court of December 12, 1996 that “all the ongoing activity in any forest in any country throughout the country, without the prior consent of the Central Government, must be terminated immediately”. In his judgment, the chief judge Gavai said, “Any such assignment after 12 December 1996 would not be sustainable.”
Published – May 18, 2025 9:26
