SC directs States, Union Territories to provide consolidated records of their forest lands in six months
2 weeks, 4 days ago

SC directs States, Union Territories to provide consolidated records of their forest lands in six months

The Hindu  

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a stern warning that Chief Secretaries of States and Administrators of Union Territories will be held personally liable if they failed to constitute expert committees to identify forests in their respective jurisdictions in a month, followed by the preparation of consolidated records of these lands within the next six months. Rule 16 brings “forest-like areas” identified by the expert committees, unclassed and community forest lands under the protection of the conservation law. For months now, the court has been waiting for the States and Union Territories to fulfil the 1996 judgment’s mandamus to form expert committees and submit consolidated records of their forest lands under Rule 16. On Tuesday, the top court directed the States and Union Territories to complete the entire exercise in “letter and spirit” and submit a report to the Union government.

Court States Union Forest Forest Land Centre Lands Forests Union Territories Sankaranarayanan Expert Committees Consolidated Records  records  directs  court  territories  forest  forests  union  1996  lands  committees  provide  sc  supreme  states  months

History of this topic

'Will Hold Chief Secretaries Personally Liable' : Supreme Court Warns States/UTs Which Haven't Formed Expert Committees To Identify Forest Areas
2 weeks, 4 days ago

'Will Hold Chief Secretaries Personally Liable' : Supreme Court Warns States/UTs Which Haven't Formed Expert Committees To Identify Forest Areas

Live Law  

The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on States/Union Territories for not complying with its earlier directions to constitute expert committees for the identification of forest areas.If the non-compliant States fail to constitute the Expert Committees within one month and carry out the exercise in terms of Rule 16 of Van Rules, 2023 within. The Supreme Court on Tuesday …

EXPLAINER | Why amended forest laws are under judicial lens
1 month, 2 weeks ago

EXPLAINER | Why amended forest laws are under judicial lens

New Indian Express  

NEW DELHI: On February 3 this year, the Supreme Court issued an interim order restraining the Central and state governments from cutting down forest areas if there is no provision of compensatory land. The court's interim order came on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the FCA 2023, which the petitioners claim excludes nearly 1.99 lakh sq km …

Supreme Court Bars Union & States From Reducing Forest Land Unless Compensatory Land Provided
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Supreme Court Bars Union & States From Reducing Forest Land Unless Compensatory Land Provided

Live Law  

The Supreme Court yesterday restrained the Union and the States from taking any steps that would lead to reduction in "forest land" across the country, unless provision is made by them for compensatory land.A bench of Justices BR Gavai and K Vinod Chandran passed the order to the following effect: "Until further orders, no steps will be taken by the …

Centre, states can’t reduce forest cover: SC
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Centre, states can’t reduce forest cover: SC

New Indian Express  

NEW DELHI: In a stern warning, the Supreme Court on Monday restrained the Centre and state governments from reducing forest areas without providing compensatory land. The interim order came after a batch of petitions challenged amendments to the 2023 forest conservation law, which allegedly excludes nearly 1.99 lakh square kilometres of forest land from the definition of “forest”. The court …

Supreme Court mandates compensatory afforestation for any forest land reduction
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Supreme Court mandates compensatory afforestation for any forest land reduction

The Hindu  

The Supreme Court made it clear to the Union Government and States on Monday that no steps will be taken by them to reduce the forest land unless compensatory land is provided by them for afforestation. In February last year, the apex court significantly declared in an order that the expression ‘forest’ would continue to have a “broad and all-encompassing” …

No steps to be taken by Centre, states to reduce forest cover: SC
1 month, 2 weeks ago

No steps to be taken by Centre, states to reduce forest cover: SC

Deccan Chronicle  

The Supreme Court on Monday restrained until further orders the Centre and the states from taking any step that would reduce forest areas.A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran was hearing a batch of petitions against the amendments to the 2023 forest conservation law. In February last year, the top court took note of the submission …

[Forest Conservation Act] Forest Land Cannot Be Repurposed For Non-Forest Activities Without Approval: Himachal Pradesh High Court
7 months, 1 week ago

[Forest Conservation Act] Forest Land Cannot Be Repurposed For Non-Forest Activities Without Approval: Himachal Pradesh High Court

Live Law  

The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has upheld an eviction order against a petitioner, emphasizing the stringent requirements of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The Court reinforced that forest land cannot be repurposed for non-forest activities without the necessary approvals, underscoring the legal framework designed to protect forest areas from unauthorized use. The petitioner had sought to challenge the eviction …

Chunk of India’s forests ‘missing’ after 27-year-delay to file reports | Analysis
10 months, 3 weeks ago

Chunk of India’s forests ‘missing’ after 27-year-delay to file reports | Analysis

The Hindu  

In compliance with a February 19, 2024, Supreme Court order, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change uploaded the various State Expert Committee reports on its website earlier in April. A key concern in the petition was that the status of unclassed forests, which were to be identified by the state SEC reports, wasn’t known or if they had …

Calm assessment: On the extent of ‘deemed forest’
1 year, 1 month ago

Calm assessment: On the extent of ‘deemed forest’

The Hindu  

The Supreme Court of India has put on pause an ambitious effort by the Centre to amend India’s Forest Act, 1980, that was brought in to check the wanton razing of forests for ‘non-forestry uses’. There is apparently, the Centre says, a reluctance among private citizens to cultivate private plantations and orchards, despite their significant ecological benefits, for fear that …

Go back to dictionary meaning of ‘forest’: Supreme Court
1 year, 1 month ago

Go back to dictionary meaning of ‘forest’: Supreme Court

The Hindu  

The Supreme Court on Monday, in a significant order, directed that the expression ‘forest’ will continue to have a “broad and all-encompassing” meaning for the time being, and include 1.97 lakh square km of undeclared forest lands. However, the court directed the government for clarity’s sake to revert to the “dictionary meaning” of ‘forest’ as upheld in a 1996 Supreme …

States/UTs Must Follow Definition Of 'Forest' Given By Godavarman Judgment Till Forests Are Identified As Per 2023 Rules : Supreme Court
1 year, 1 month ago

States/UTs Must Follow Definition Of 'Forest' Given By Godavarman Judgment Till Forests Are Identified As Per 2023 Rules : Supreme Court

Live Law  

The Supreme Court on Monday passed an interim order directing that States and Union Territories must act as per the definition of "forest" laid down in the 1996 judgment in T.N Godavarman Thirumalpad v. Union of India while the process of identifying land recorded as forests in Government records is going on as per the 2023 amendment to Forest Act.A …

Several rules issued in past 2 years to streamline forest clearance: Govt
1 year, 3 months ago

Several rules issued in past 2 years to streamline forest clearance: Govt

Hindustan Times  

New Delhi: An increase in the number of protected areas, the cheetah translocation project, and India’s commitment to meeting its climate commitments are among the substantive achievements listed by the union environment ministry. A new forest bill, enhanced wetland-protection, an increase in the number of protected areas, the cheetah translocation project, and India’s commitment to meeting its climate commitments -- …

Won't Take Precipitative Action On Changed Definition Of 'Forest' Under 2023 Amendment Until Further Orders : Centre Assures Supreme Court
1 year, 3 months ago

Won't Take Precipitative Action On Changed Definition Of 'Forest' Under 2023 Amendment Until Further Orders : Centre Assures Supreme Court

Live Law  

The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it will not take any action based on the changed definition of forest land in the Forest Amendment Act, 2023 until further orders from the court. The Court was considering a plea challenging the constitutionality of the recent amendments to the Forest Amendment Act, 2023. The bench was considering a writ …

Former Civil Servants Challenge 2023 Amendments To Forest Conservation Act; Supreme Court Seeks Centre's Response
1 year, 5 months ago

Former Civil Servants Challenge 2023 Amendments To Forest Conservation Act; Supreme Court Seeks Centre's Response

Live Law  

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a plea challenging the constitutionality of the recent amendments to the Forest Act. The petitioners have contested the constitutionality of the Forest Amendment Act, 2023, citing concerns that the new law would significantly undermine the country’s long-standing forest governance framework. The petition states – “In the order, the court held that the …

HC Issues Notice on Revenue-Forest Land Dispute
1 year, 5 months ago

HC Issues Notice on Revenue-Forest Land Dispute

Deccan Chronicle  

HYDERABAD: A two-judge bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar on Friday granted a writ appeal sought by the forest department. Woman gets bail in murder case Justice K. Surender of the Telangana High Court granted bail to an agriculturist in a case of attempt to murder. Defamation case returned to trial court The XI Additional …

HT interview: Forest act will help improve status of forward areas, says Bhupender Yadav
1 year, 7 months ago

HT interview: Forest act will help improve status of forward areas, says Bhupender Yadav

Hindustan Times  

New Delhi Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav spoke to HT about the Forest Conservation Act, 2023 -- which was cleared by Parliament in the monsoon session -- on the eve of World Elephant Day, which falls on August 12. Why has the government exempted unrecorded deemed forests from the ambit of the Forest Conservation Bill?The applicability of the Forest Conservation …

Parliament Passes Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023
1 year, 7 months ago

Parliament Passes Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023

Live Law  

After the judgment, the Act was applied to recorded forest areas, including those already used for non-forestry purposes. Godavarman vs. Union of India and others, the Forest Act only applied to notified forest lands, not revenue forest areas and non-forestry use in the revenue forest areas was allowed through government's permissions. These include land notified as a forest under the …

Explained | What will the amended Forest (Conservation) Act change?
1 year, 7 months ago

Explained | What will the amended Forest (Conservation) Act change?

The Hindu  

August 01, 2023 07:01 pm | Updated August 04, 2023 10:27 am IST - Bengaluru The highly controversial Forest Amendment Bill 2023 is awaiting debate in the Rajya Sabha after having been passed by the Lok Sabha with almost no debate in June. It stipulates that only those lands that were notified as ‘forest’ under the Indian Forest Act 1927, …

Facing the axe: new ‘forest’ definition makes large tracts vulnerable
1 year, 7 months ago

Facing the axe: new ‘forest’ definition makes large tracts vulnerable

The Hindu  

The Dongria Kondh tribe, one of 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups in Odisha, fought a historic winning battle to save its ecology from bauxite mining operations in the Niyamgiri hill range from 2004 to 2013. The new legislation may open a window for government agencies to divert land not classified as ‘forest’ in government records to other purposes. The amendment …

The hornets’ nests in the Forest Amendment Bill
1 year, 7 months ago

The hornets’ nests in the Forest Amendment Bill

The Hindu  

The Lok Sabha passed the Forest Amendment Bill, 2023, on July 26, with no substantive changes from the original version introduced in March. The problem areas The Forest Conservation Act of 1980, which this Bill aims to amend, admittedly and justifiably adopted a rather protectionist stance which made forest clearances time consuming and costly to obtain. Three points that emerge …

Six Opposition members file dissent notes on Forest Conservation Bill
1 year, 8 months ago

Six Opposition members file dissent notes on Forest Conservation Bill

The Hindu  

At least six out of the 31 members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Forest Amendment Bill, have filed dissent notes, raising an alarm over exemptions extended to significant tracts of land in the draft legislation, even as the panel cleared the controversial Bill without proposing any changes. Both the Congress and Trinamool members have raised objections to amendment that …

New forest bill must strike a fine balance
1 year, 8 months ago

New forest bill must strike a fine balance

Hindustan Times  

Among the most important bills likely to be tabled in Parliament in the upcoming monsoon session is the Forest Amendment Bill, 2023. And if the developments in the joint parliamentary committee scrutinising the draft legislation are any clue, then it is likely to be contentious as well. This newspaper reported that the panel is likely to finalise its report on …

Objections overruled, Forest Bill goes to House unchanged
1 year, 8 months ago

Objections overruled, Forest Bill goes to House unchanged

The Hindu  

A Parliamentary committee, set up to examine controversial proposed amendments to the Forest Act, 1980, has endorsed the amendment Bill in its entirety. Touching a raw nerve The proposed amendments to the Forest Act, 1980 have attracted objections on various grounds: ‘Dilution’ of the Supreme Court’s 1996 judgment in the Godavarman case that extended protection to wide tracts of forests, …

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes’ position on new Forest Conservation Rules ‘will be same’
2 years, 2 months ago

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes’ position on new Forest Conservation Rules ‘will be same’

The Hindu  

In a sign of escalating conflict between the government and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes over the Forest Rules 2022, NCST Chairperson Harsh Chouhan on Monday said that the ST body’s position on the new rules being violative of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 “will be the same” even as the Environment Ministry has dismissed these concerns. In response, …

Centre overhauls process to grant clearances for projects on forest land
2 years, 6 months ago

Centre overhauls process to grant clearances for projects on forest land

Hindustan Times  

The Union environment ministry has overhauled the process to grant clearances to projects requiring forest diversions under the Forest Conservation Rules 2022, officials familiar with the matter said. The Forest Conservation Rules 2022, which was notified in June 28, seeks to replace forest conservation rules 2003 and make the process of granting forest clearance efficient. In a letter to all …

Explained: The government's new forest rules and Congress' reservation about them
2 years, 8 months ago

Explained: The government's new forest rules and Congress' reservation about them

Firstpost  

The Congress has alleged that the Centre’s new rules will infringe upon the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which will allow cutting of trees without the consent of forest-dwellers. Senior party leaders alleged that the Narendra Modi government is abdicating its responsibility towards protecting tribal rights and diluting the rules for the “ease of snatching forest land”. If …

Congress, BJP spar over new forest conservation rules
2 years, 8 months ago

Congress, BJP spar over new forest conservation rules

The Hindu  

Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav and Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh on Sunday engaged in war of words on Twitter on provisions of the Forest Rules, 2022. The Forest Rights Act, 2006, along with a 2009 government order, makes it mandatory to seek “free, prior and informed consent” of families who would be affected by such diversion of forest land, Mr. …

There Cannot Be Any 'Deemed Forest' Under The Forest Conservation Act: Karnataka High Court Reiterates
2 years, 8 months ago

There Cannot Be Any 'Deemed Forest' Under The Forest Conservation Act: Karnataka High Court Reiterates

Live Law  

The Karnataka High Court has reiterated that a land can either be a "forest" or a "forest land", but there cannot be any "deemed forest" in absence of any provision under the Forest Conservation Act. A division bench Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Ashok S Kinagi while allowing a petition filed by one DM Deve Gowda said, "This …

'Centre's Prior Approval Required To De-reserve Forests' : Karnataka High Court Quashes Notification Releasing Forest Land
3 years, 11 months ago

'Centre's Prior Approval Required To De-reserve Forests' : Karnataka High Court Quashes Notification Releasing Forest Land

Live Law  

The Karnataka High Court has struck down an order/notification dated February 23, 2017 issued by the state government by which it purported to release a total of 260 acres forming a part of a reserve forest to the revenue department for rehabilitating project affected families in the forest lands. It also held that even if the State Government purports to …

SC stays eviction order on forest land: Centre's application to apex court points out grave anomalies in rejection of land title claims
6 years ago

SC stays eviction order on forest land: Centre's application to apex court points out grave anomalies in rejection of land title claims

Firstpost  

According to the Union tribal affairs ministry’s application to the Supreme Court, its letter to state governments dated 12 September, 2014, had noted that reasons for rejection were not communicated. But, according to the Union tribal affairs ministry’s application to the Supreme Court, its letter to state governments dated 12 September, 2014, had noted that reasons for rejection were not …

Missing the wood and trees
8 years, 10 months ago

Missing the wood and trees

The Hindu  

THIS year marks the decadal milestones for two events in the recent history of forest governance in India. FRA’s stated purpose was to “recognise and vest the forest rights and occupation in forest land in forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been residing in such forests for generations but whose rights could not be recorded”. “India’s …

What’s a forest, state asks planning board
10 years, 1 month ago

What’s a forest, state asks planning board

Hindustan Times  

Months after the NCR Planning Board asked Haryana to identify forest areas before finalising its sub-regional plan, officials are still debating over the definition of ‘forest’. While the Supreme Court orders defining forest under the ministry of environment guidelines, the DC’s letter defines forest cover as discussed in a meeting with the NCR planning board. The minutes of the meeting …

An unequal battle
10 years, 4 months ago

An unequal battle

The Hindu  

For an illustration of Orwellian doublespeak, parse an August 29 notification of the Union Environment and Forests Ministry. While one would expect a ministry with this name to protect environment and forests, one of the four terms of reference in the notification constituting a high-level committee to review five green laws gives an ominous indication: “to recommend specific amendments needed …

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