- Supreme Court directive:
- Chief Secretaries of States and Administrators of Union Territories (UTs) must form Special Investigation Teams (SITs).
- SITs to examine forest lands held by Revenue Departments that have been allotted to private parties for non-forest (non-afforestation) uses.
Relevance : GS 3(Environmental Governance)
- Action required:
- Identify and reclaim reserve forest lands wrongly allotted to private individuals/entities.
- Repossess such lands and hand them over to the respective forest departments.
- Exceptions & compensations:
- If repossession is not in larger public interest, States/UTs must recover the cost of the land from private holders.
- Recovered funds must be used solely for forest development and afforestation.
- Timeframe:
- The entire exercise must be completed within one year from the judgment date.
- Land use:
- Going forward, such forest lands must only be used for afforestation and forest-related activities.
- Conversion to agricultural or commercial purposes is prohibited.
- Case reference:
- Judgment arose from the illegal allotment of 11.89 hectares of reserve forest land at Kondhwa Budruk, Pune (allotted in 1998 for agriculture and sold to a builder in 1999).
- Environmental Clearance given to the builder in 2007 was quashed as illegal.
- Court observations:
- Highlighted the nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, and builders driving illegal forest land conversion.
- Called this a “classic example” of misuse and commercialisation of precious forest resources.
- Legal implications:
- Sets a precedent reinforcing strict protection of reserve forests.
- Empowers forest departments and strengthens forest conservation enforcement.
- Broader significance:
- Aims to curb illegal deforestation and safeguard ecological balance.
- Ensures accountability of government officials and private parties in forest land misuse.
- Promotes sustainable development through forest restoration efforts.
- Next steps for States/UTs:
- Immediate formation of SITs and thorough audits of forest land allotments.
- Proactive repossession or cost recovery and forest department handover.
- Implementation monitoring by judiciary or relevant authorities to ensure compliance within the one-year deadline.
