The Supreme Court docket on Monday ordered a direct halt on all ongoing development actions on forest land within the hill districts of Uttarakhand.
Taking took suo motu cognisance of unauthorised occupation and alleged unlawful alienation of protected forest land in Uttarakhand, the Trip Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered the State Forest Division to right away take possession of all vacant parcels of such land, save and besides areas already occupied by current residential constructions.
After perusing the fabric positioned on file, the Apex Court docket expressed grave concern over the obvious inaction of the state administration and the statutory authorities entrusted with the safety and conservation of forest sources.
It famous that the allegations disclosed a prima facie failure on the a part of the State equipment to discharge its obligations beneath the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the constitutional mandate flowing from Articles 48A and 51A(g) of the Structure, which impose duties upon the State and residents alike to guard and enhance the pure atmosphere.
Being attentive to the urgency and the potential irreversible environmental harm, the Court docket had held that the scenario warranted speedy judicial oversight. It had accordingly initiated suo motu proceedings to look at the dimensions of encroachment, the legality of the constructions undertaken, and the response of the State authorities to such violations.
In help of this train, the Bench had directed the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to represent a fact-finding committee.
The committee had been tasked with conducting an on-ground evaluation, figuring out the extent and nature of encroachments, analyzing the position of public officers, and submitting a complete report back to allow efficient adjudication by the Court docket.
Pending additional consideration, the Court docket had imposed interim protecting measures to forestall any aggravation of the scenario. It had restrained personal people and entities from creating third-party rights over forest land and had categorically prohibited any additional development exercise thereon.
These instructions had been issued with the intention to protect the established order and stop fait accompli conditions in the course of the pendency of the proceedings.
The Bench emphasised that such possession was essential to safeguard public belief sources till the matter was lastly adjudicated. The precept of public belief, as recognised in precedents comparable to M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath and subsequent environmental jurisprudence, was famous as guiding the Court docket’s method.
The case had been directed to be listed for additional listening to on January 5, following the reopening of the Supreme Court docket after the winter trip.
The difficulty of forest land encroachment in Uttarakhand had lengthy been a topic of public concern, notably in view of the State’s fragile hill ecology. Experiences had indicated that fast urbanisation and unregulated growth had resulted within the gradual appropriation of protected forest areas for personal use, usually within the absence of statutory approvals, thereby elevating severe environmental, authorized, and governance issues.
