Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Legal validity of Forest Bill questioned

By P. Venugopal

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Sept. 13. A note that had originated in the State Secretariat advises the Government against sending the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Bill, passed by the State Assembly on August 7, to the Governor for his signature.

The note put up by the Forest wing of the Secretariat after a close examination of the Bill, says it is ``unconstitutional and violates the over-riding provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980''. The note holds that the Bill ``requires amendments by the State legislature and the assent of the President of India''.

Sources in the Secretariat told The Hindu that, despite these suggestions, the Government had sent the Bill to the Governor for his assent. During the discussion on the Bill in the Assembly, the Opposition MLAs had alleged that the Bill's provisions were meant only to help certain powerful people to take possession of large tracts of forest land vested with the Government through an Ordinance in 2000.

One objectionable point about the Bill is the definition it gives to the term `forest'. The Bill gives `forest' a meaning that is totally different from the one provided by the Central Act and also some well-known Supreme Court verdicts. By just planting a few saplings of crops like pepper, coffee, coconut etc., or by erecting a hut, an individual can push a forested area out of the purview of this Bill because of the manner in which the term `forest' is defined by it.

The note quotes from the Supreme Court's verdict in WP(C) No. 202/95, to explain how the definition given in the Bill is legally unacceptable.

Also, in the Ordinance (which the Bill seeks to replace), tracts cultivated with coffee and cardamom under proper registration were exempted from the purview of its takeover provisions. But, in the Bill, the need for proper registration is not mentioned at all. ``It would therefore help the holders/encroachers to legitimise their claims over the forest land in their possession. This is also against the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980,'' the note says.

The note further observes that the State Government has just filed an affidavit before the High Court of Kerala detailing the post 1977 encroachments. There is a specific direction from the Government of India and the Supreme Court against legitimising the post 1977 encroachments. The Bill, therefore, should have specific safeguards to prevent the encroachments after January 1, 1977 and possession of forest land gained with the help of bogus tenancies from getting legitimatised. Section iii (2) C of the Bill, however, might serve only to legitimise such encroachments, according to the note.

An extent of 11,037.37 hectares of forest land had been vested with the Government under the Ordinance first issued in 2000. Top forest officials admit that, in at least 35 individual cases, the takeovers were blatantly unjust and done without any field verification.

The provisions included in the Bill to do them justice, however, will also help the `big sharks' to wrest back the forests they had been keeping in their possession through fraudulent means.

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