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Tamil Nadu
PIL petition challenges Forest Dwellers Act
Mohamed Imranullah S.
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Petitioner assails powers vested with gram sabhas
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MADURAI: A public interest litigation petition has been filed before the Madras High Court Bench here to declare Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 ultra vires of the Constitution. A Division Bench, comprising Justice A. Kulasekaran and Justice S. Palanivelu, directed Assistant Solicitor General of India Pon. Muthuramalingam to obtain instructions from the Centre and adjourned the matter to February 14. The Act was notified in the gazette on January 2 this year.
The petitioner, T.N.S. Murugadoss Theerthapathi, grandson of Diwan Bagadur Murugadass Theerthapathi, a former zamindar of Singampatti in Tirunelveli district, said the impugned enactment was repugnant to all other laws aimed at protecting forests and preserving wildlife.
Pointing out that the Act provides for vesting land rights up to four hectares with an individual or family or community, conversion of forest villages into revenue villages and diversion of forest land to civic requirements, he said such provisions would be against the National Forest Policy, which envisages at least one-third of the total land area under forest/tree cover. The land rights of tribals over an extent of 3.6 lakh hectares were recognised in 1980 and 510 forest villages converted into revenue villages. Subsequently, there was prohibition on encroaching forest land. But, the latest enactment gave scope for regularising illegal encroachments made up to 2005, he said, and alleged it had been done to gain political mileage.
Assailing the powers vested under the Act with gram sabhas (village committees) to determine forest rights of the applicants, the petitioner said: “The gram sabhas being small and isolated are highly vulnerable to the dictates of extremist, anti-social and apolitical elements…This will lead to a big organised land grab by commercial interests and rich tribals will get hold of the lands.”
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