Forests cannot be used for non-forestry purposes, including agriculture: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held in a recent judgment that forest lands cannot be used for non-forestry purposes, including agriculture.

“This court in a catena of decisions has passed numerous mandatory directions prohibiting de-reservation of forest. Granting permission to cultivate the forest land would essentially require clearing of forest and such a course of action is in the teeth of Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 which precludes de-reservation or use of forest land for non-forestry purposes without prior approval of the Central government,” a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed.

The court upheld an appeal filed by the Karnataka government against Gandhi Jeevan Collective Farming Cooperative Society, which wanted an extension of the lease on 134 acres of forest, which had been illegally granted to them for cultivation.

The judgment, authored by Justice Mehta, directed the State to instead repopulate the forest with indigenous trees.

“The cooperative society, having enjoyed cultivatory possession over the forest area for a period of more than 10 years, was not entitled for any further extension of the lease which was in the first place illegally granted. As per the extant statutes, forest lands could not be allowed to be used for non-forestry purposes, which would include agriculture,” the court clarified the law.

The Karnataka government had specifically mentioned in its affidavit that the lands fell under the category of “forest” and were in the ownership and possession of the State Forest Department.

The Bench further reminded that a 2000 judgment had held that de-reservation of forest or sanctuaries or national parks could not be made without the permission of the Supreme Court.

NOTE – This article was originally published in THE HINDU and can be viewed here