Shivani Thakur
Published on: June 26, 2022 at 12:55 IST
The Karnataka High Court has reaffirmed that while a piece of land may be a “forest” or a “forest land,” there cannot be a “deemed forest” in the absence of a Forest Conservation Act provision.
“This Court, vide judgment and order dated 12.06.2019 passed in W.P.No.54476/2016 (GM-MM-S) C/w W.P.No.51135/2016 (Dhananjay vs. State of Karnataka and others), has categorically held that there is no concept of “deemed forest,” the Bench said.
The petitioner had gone to court to ask for a reversal of the decision and endorsement made by the deputy conservator of forests (Chikkamagaluru division).
It was requested that the respondent be given instructions allowing him to conduct stone quarrying on his property and issuing a quarrying licence.
The bench said, “In this view of the matter, we deem it appropriate to allow this writ petition without calling for any statement of objections from the respondents as the judgment passed by this Court in the case of Dhananjay (supra) holds good.”
When overturning the authority’s decisions, the court ordered the respondents to take into account Dhananjay when deciding whether to grant the petitioner’s request for a quarrying licence or lease, or to renew it, within two months (supra).
The Bench clarified that, “While considering the applications afresh, the concerned authority will have to consider whether the subject lands are “forest” or “forest land” as laid down in the decision of the Apex Court in T N Godavarman vs Union of India and others, (1997), 2 SCC 267.”
It added, “If the authority concerned finds that the land is a “forest” or a “forest land”, lease or extension of lease cannot be granted unless the consent of the Central Government is obtained as per section 2 of the Forest Act.”