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2001 Supreme(SC) 1869
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
B.N. Kirpal, K.G. Balakrishnan, Arijit Pasayat, JJ.
T.N. Godavarman Thirumalpad - Petitioner
Versus
Union of India & Ors. - Respondents
Item No.301, Item No. 302, Item No. 303, IA No. 295 in WP (C) 202/1995 Item No. 304, I.A. No. 664 in W.P.(C) No.202/95 Item no. 305, I.A. No.677 in W.P.(C) 202/1995, Item No. 306, I.A. No. 395 in W.P.(C) 202/1995, ITEM NO. 307, I.A. No.496 in W.P.(C) 202/1995, Item No. 308, I.A. No. 497 in WP(C) NO. 202/1995, Item No. 309, I.A. NO. 424 in WP(C) No. 202/1995, Item No. 310, I.A. NO. 566 in WP(C) No. 202/1995, Item No. 311, I.A. NO. 652-653 IN WP(C) NO. 202/1995, Item No. 312, I.A. NO. 669 in I.A. No. 659 in W.P.(C) NO. 202/1995
District Forest Officer, Tamil Nadu - Petitioner
Versus
Gowri Shankar & Anr. - Respondents
Item No. 321, I.A. NO. 502 in WP (C) 202/1995, Item No. 322, IA NO. 236 in WP (C) 202/1995, Item No. 323, I.A. Nos. 634-635 in WP (C) 202/1995, Item no. 324, I.A. Nos. 697-698 in WP (C) 202/1995, Item No. 325, I.A. Nos. 700-701 in WP (C) 202/1995 WITH WP (C) NO. 171/1996, Item No. 326, I.A. Nos. 13, 19, 22, 23, 24 and 28 in WP (C) 171/1996.
Environment Awareness Forum - Petitioner
Versus
State of J & K & Ors. - Respondents
Item No. 327, WP (C) NO. 95/1997
Environment Society of India & Anr. - Petitioner
Versus
U.O.I. & Ors. - Respondents
Item No. 328, SLP(C) NO. 1573/1999, Item No. 332, IA Nos. 620 and 621 in WP (C) 202/1995 With WP (C) 171/1996, Item No. 333, IA No. 645 in IA 620 in WP (C) No. 202/1995, Item No. 334, I.A. No. 695 and 696 in WP (C) No. 202/1995 with WP (C) NO. 171/1996.
K.V. Subbanna & Ors. - Petitioner
Versus
State of Karnataka & Ors. - Respondents
Item No. 329, W.P. (C) 603/2000.
Society Protection of Human Rights & Ors. - Petitioner
Versus
Union of India & Ors. - Respondents
Item No. 330, I.A. NO. 605 in IA 477 and 480 in IA NO. 424 in WP (C) 202/1995, Item No. 331, IA NO. 29 in WP (C) 171/1996
Decided On : 23-11-2001
Mr. Harish N Salve, SG (AC), Mr. Siddharth Choudhary, Mr. U U Lalit, Adv. (AC), Mr. Mahendra Vyas, Mr. P K Manohar, Advocates.
For the Ministry of Environment & Forests/UoI :Mr. A D N Rao, Mr. C.V. Subba Rao, Mr. Krishan Mahajan, Ms. Alka Agarwal, Mr. C. Radhakrishna, Mr. B.V. Balaram Das, Mr. P. Parmeswaran, Advocates.
For the Min. of Railways :Mr. Mukul Rohtagi, ASG., Mr. S. Wasim A. Qadri, Ms. Anil Katiyar, Advocates.
For the UOI in WP 95/97 :Mr. N.N. Goswami, Sr. Adv., Ms. Smita Inna, Mr. B.V. Balaram Das, Advocates, IAs 669 and 659:Mr. U U Lalit, Advocate.
For the State of Meghalaya IA 295 :Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, Mr. P.K. Manohar, Advocates, IA 664:Ms. Sudha Pal, Ms. Rani Chhabra, Advocates, IA 677:Mr. M.L. Lahoty, Mr. Paban K. Sharma, Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, Advocates, IA 424:Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Mr. S.K. Agnihotri, Advocates, IA 566: Mr. K.N. Rawal, ASG(NP), IA 636 :Mr. Kailash Vasdev, Sr. Adv., Mr. Rahul Singh, Ms. Vimla Sinha, Mr. Gopal Singh, Advocates, IA 670:Mr. A.D.N. Rao, Mr. B.V. Balaram Das, Advocates, IA 675-678: Mr. Vivek Tankha, Adv. Genl.
For the State of M.P. :Mr. Rohit K. Singh, Mr. S.K. Agnihotri, Advocates.
For the State of M.P. IA 652-653 :Mr. U.U. Lalit, Advocate, IA 680:Ms. Anil Katiyar, Advocate, IA 685, 686 and 236:Mr. Harish N. Salve, SG (A.C.), Mr. U.U. Lalit, Advocate, IA 502:Mr. Colin Gonsalvez, Ms. Tashi D. Bhutia, Ms. Aparna Bhat, Advocates, IA 634-635, 697-698:Mr. Mukul Rohtagi, ASG., Ms. Tasneem Ahmadi, Ms. Sangeeta Panicker, Mr. Mecolt Singh, Mr. Bharat Sangal, Advocates, IAs 700 and 701: Mr. S.K. Dholakia, Sr. Adv.
For the State of M.P. IA 679 (Bihar State Forest Devlpt. Corpn.) :Mr. M.P. Jha, Mr. Ram Ekbal Roy, Mr. Anil Kumar Chopra, Advocates.
For the State of Maharashtra :Mr. S.S. Shinde, Mr. S.V. Deshpande, Advocates, IAs 13,19,22,23,24 and 28 in WP 171/1996:Mr. Harish N. Salve, SG. (A.C.), Mr. Siddharth Choudhary, Advocates, IA 29 in WP 171:Mr. B.V. Balaram Das, Advocate, IA 605:Ms. Vibha Dutta Makhija, Mr. Uma Nath Singh, Advocates.
For the Cont. Petn. 193/01 :Mr. Harish N. Salve, SG.(AC), Mr. V. Balaji, Mr. P.N. Ramalingam, Advocates.
For the Jantia & Khasi Hills(in IA 497) :Mr. P.K. Goswami, Sr. Adv., Mr. B.B. Narzari, Mr. Rajiv Mehta, Advocates.
For the Meghalaya Land & Forest :M/s Vijay Hansaria & H.S. Thangkhieni, Advocates.
For the Owners Association for (in IA 497) :M/s Jain Hansaria & Co., Advocate.
For the Respondent: Mr. K K Venugopal, Sr. Adv.
For the Kudremukh Iron Ore Co. Ltd. (in IA 670) :Mr. Shiva Subramanian, Mr. S Sukumaran, Ms. Divya Nair, Mr. Ramesh Babu M R and Mr. M. Raghu, Advocates.
For the State of Manipur :Mr. Sapan Biswajit, Mr. K.H. Nobin Singh, Advocates.
For the State of Chhattisgarh :Mr. Ravindra Srivastava, Adv. Genl., Mr. Prakash Shrivastava, Advocate.
For the State of Goa :Ms. A. Subhashini, Advocate.
For the State of Karnataka :Mr. Satya Mitra, Mr. Sanjay R. Hegde, Advocates.
For the State of karnataka Petr. in WP 171/96 :Ms. Shabnam Lone, Mr. M.N. Shroff, Advocates.
For the State of Arunachal Pradesh :Mr. Anil Shrivastav, Advocate.
For the State of Sikkim :Mr. A Mariarputham, M/s. Arputham Aruna & Co., Advocates.
For the Contemnor No. 1 in Cont Petn. 193/01 :Mr. M.L. Verma, Sr. Adv., Mr. Joseph Pookkatt, Mr. Prasenjit Keswani, Mr. Prashant Kumar, Advocates.
For the State of Haryana :Mr. Neeraj Kumar Jain, Mr. J.P. Dhanda, Advocates.
For the RR in WP 171/96 :Mr. Amit Dhingra, Ms. Musharaf Chaudhary, Mr. P.H. Parekh, Mr. Vishwajit Singh, Advocates, SLP 1573:Mr. Mukul Rohtagi, ASG., Mr. Aftab Ali Khan, Mr. C. Radhakrishna, Mr. B.V. Balaram Das, Advocates, WP 603/00:Mr. Dinesh Dwivedi, Sr. Adv., Ms. Anamila Agarwal, Ms. Chetan Siddharth, Mr. Ajay K. Agrawal, Advocates.
For the State of Andhra Pradesh :Mr. T.V. Ratnam, Advocate.
For the State of J & K :Ms. Shamama Anis, Mr. Anis Suhrawardy, Advocate.
For the Andaman Admn. :Mr. Altaf Ahmed, ASG., Mr. A.S. Rawat, Mr. D.S. Mahra, Advocates.
For the Chief Conservator of Forest, Andaman Admn : (Present in Court)
For the Contemnor-respondents Nos. 1 and 2 in Cont. Petn. 193/2001: Personally present in Court.
For the State of Gujarat : Ms. Hemantika Wahi, N.M.D.C. Mr. Mukul Rohtagi, ASG.
Proper utilization of funds for compensatory afforestation and the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment & Forests to formulate a scheme to address the shortfall.
Headnote:
Forest Conservation Act - Directions for compensatory afforestation - I.A. No. 566
Fact of the Case:
The court directed the Ministry of Environment & Forests to formulate a scheme for compensatory afforestation and ensure afforestation takes place as per permissions granted.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that large sums of money were realized by various states for compensatory afforestation, but the utilization of the funds represented only about 63% of the realized amount. The court directed the Ministry to formulate a scheme to address the shortfall and ensure afforestation takes place as per permissions granted.
Issues: Non-utilization of funds for compensatory afforestation, need for a scheme to ensure afforestation as per permissions granted.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the need for proper utilization of funds for compensatory afforestation and directed the Ministry to formulate a scheme to address the shortfall.
Final Decision: The Ministry of Environment & Forests was directed to formulate a scheme for compensatory afforestation and ensure afforestation takes place as per permissions granted.
ORDER :
1. List this matter for hearing after the Final Report of the Special Investigation Team is filed.
2. Report filed by the Empowered Committee is taken on record and accepted.
3. List I.A. 589 along with the report on the next date of hearing.
I.A. No.295 (Interim application through Amicus Curiae for directions regarding the State of Assam PCCF order dated 12th February, 1998)
4. List after six weeks.
I.A. No. 664 (For directions)
5. Reply be filed within two weeks. Rejoinder be filed within two weeks thereafter. List after four weeks.
I.A. NO. 677 (for directions/impleadment)
6. Reply be filed within two weeks. Rejoinder be filed within two weeks thereafter. List after four weeks.
I.A. No. 395, 496 and 497 (For clarification / directions on behalf of State of Meghalaya)
7. Replies be filed within four weeks. List on a non-miscellaneous day thereafter.
I.A. No. 424 (Interim application on behalf of the applicant, Santosh Bharti)
8. States of Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, NCT of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have not filed their affidavits as per the office report dated 21st November, 2001. The Chief Secretaries of these States are directed to ensure the filing of their affidavits within four weeks from today. Affidavit of the Union of India should be filed within seven weeks from today. List thereafter.
I.A. No.566 (SUO-MOTU ACTION TAKEN BY THIS HON'BLE COURT ON THE STATEMENT OF MR. K.N. RAWAL, LD. ADDITIONAL SOLICITOR GENERAL ON BEHALF OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SHOWING THE POSITION OF THE CASES APPROVED FOR DIVERTING A FOREST LAND STIPULATION FOR COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION UNDER THE FOREST CONSERVATION ACT AND THE COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION DONE FUNDS TO BE UTLISED AND ACTUALLY UTILISED
9. Most of the affidavits have been filed from a statement which has been placed on record by the learned Amicus Curiae. It is clear that large sums of money have been realised by various States from the user-agencies to whom permissions were granted for using forest land for non-forest purposes. Monies were paid by them to the State Governments for compensatory afforestation but the utilisation of the money for re-forestation represents only about 63 per cent of the funds actually realised by the State Governments. The shortfall is of nearly Rs. 200 crores.
10. While on the next date of hearing the Court will consider as to how this shortfall is to be made good, the Ministry of Environment & Forests should formulate a Scheme whereby whenever any permission is granted for change of user of forest land for non-forest purposes and one of the conditions of the permission is that there should be compensatory afforestation then the responsibility of the same should be that of the user- agency and should be required to set apart a sum of money for doing the needful. In such a case the State Governments concerned will have to provide or make available land on which reforestation can take place and this land may have to be made available either at the expense of the user-agency or of the State Governments, as the State Governments may decide. The scheme which is framed by the Ministry of Environment & Forests should be such as to ensure that afforestation takes place as per the permissions which are granted and there should be no shortfall in respect thereto. Counsel for the Union of India states that appropriate scheme will be formulated on the basis of which permissions will be granted in future and the same placed before this Court within eight weeks. List thereafter.
I.A. NOS. 652-653 (For directions and exemption from filing O.T.)
11. Issue notice returnable after four weeks. Dasti service in addition is permitted.
I.A. NOS. 669 in I.A. No. 659(For directions)
12. Adjourned. List after four weeks.
I.A.No.636 (For modification/diurections on behalf of State of Tripura
13. Our attention is being drawn to the letter dated 27th April, 2001, of the Ministry of Environment & Forests to the Chief Secretary, Government of Tripura, Agartala
