Form SIT to probe illegal diversion of forest land, SC orders states, UTs

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A three-judge Bench led by CJI BR Gavai on May 15 set aside the allotment and subsequent sale of 11.89 hectares of reserved forest land in Kondhwa Budruk, Pune, originally granted to a private family and later transferred to Richie Rich Cooperative Housing Society Limited (RRCHS).

“The present matter is a classic example as to how the nexus between the politicians, bureaucrats and the builders can result in the conversion of precious forest land for commercial purposes under the garb of resettlement of people belonging to the backward class from whose ancestors, agricultural land was acquired for public purpose,” the top court said.

“We direct that the possession of the subject land, which is reserved as a forest land, but is in possession of the Revenue Department, be handed over to the Forest Department within a period of three months from today,” said the Bench, which also included Justice AG Masih and Justice K Vinod Chandran.

Writing the judgment for the Bench, CJI Gavai directed “the chief secretaries of all states and the administrators of all the union territories to constitute special investigation teams for the purpose of examining as to whether any of the reserved forest land in the possession of the Revenue Department has been allotted to any private individuals/institutions for any purpose other than the forestry purpose.”

The top court ordered the state governments and the UTs “to take steps to take back the possession of the land from the persons/institutions in possession of such lands and handover the same to the Forest Department. In case, it is found that taking back the possession of the land would not be in the larger public interest, the state governments/UTs should recover the cost of the said land from the persons or institutions to whom they were allotted and use the said amount for the purpose of development of forests.”

It also directed the chief secretaries of all states and the administrators of all the UTs “to constitute special teams to ensure that all such transfers take place within a period of one year from today. Needless to state that hereinafter such land should be used only for the purpose of afforestation.”

It held that the allotment of 11.89 ha of reserved forest land in Survey No.21 (old Survey No.20A) Kondhwa Budruk in Pune for agriculture purposes on August 28, 1998, and subsequent permission given for its sale in favour of RRCHS on October 30, 1999, was “totally illegal”.

“We have no hesitation in holding that the then Minister for Revenue, Government of Maharashtra and the then Divisional Commissioner, Pune have acted totally in breach of public trust to illegally cause gain to private individuals at the cost of sacrificing precious Forest Land”, the Bench noted.

It also quashed environmental clearance granted by the MoEF on July 3, 2007, to RRCHS declaring it “illegal”. “Since the State of Maharashtra has recalled the communication dated August 4, 1998, approving the allotment of the subject land to the ‘Chavan Family’, we uphold the same,” the Bench said.