Judgment

SHIVARAJ V. PATIL, J.- The short question that arises for consideration in this appeal is "whether any permission is required under Section 4- Bread with Section 4-C of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955 (for short the Act) by the owners of the orchards to fell the old trees for replacing them by new saplings having greater potential of yield".

2. The appellant is the owner of certain land classified as "bagan" a (garden) in the record-of-rights. Since old trees in the land had been affected with uncontrollable worms and had lost their fruit-bearing ability, the appellant decided to uproot them with an intention to renovate the garden by planting high-breed saplings. After he cut two to three trees, the local police personnel and the Block Land Reforms Officer prevented the appellant from further felling, citing the judgment of the Supreme Court in T.N. Godavarman Thirumulkpad v. Union of India1 The appellant, in these circumstances, approached the High Court by filing Writ Petition No. 16280 of 1997 challenging the action of the officers and seeking certain directions.

A learned Single Judge of the High Court referred the writ petition to the Division Bench (Green Benc