T. N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2013 Supreme(SC) 1386

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
A.K. Patnaik, S.S. Nijjar, F.B. Ibrahim Kalifulla, JJ.
T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad - Petitioner
Versus
Union of India & Ors. - Respondent
With
Bali Ram - Petitioner
Versus
Union of India and Ors.
Item No. 3643-44, 3277-80, 3373, 3662, 3696, 3645-47, 3700-705, 3709-11, 3715-20, 3296 in 1310 in 828, 3515-16, 3532-3533 in 1173 in 77-78, 83, 92, 3712, 3692, 3698-99, 2782, 2639-40 in 2782, 3023-34 with 2469, 3030 and 3032 in 2939-40 in WP (C) No. 202 of 1995 with Writ Petition (c) No. 130 of 2011 with IA Nos. 3539-40, 3721 in 3629 in 2746-48 with Nos. 2746-48, 2862, 2894-95, 2941 and 3629, 3714 and 3277 in Writ Petition (C) No. 202 of 1995.
Decided On : 09-12-2013

Advocates Appeared:
For the Petitioner:- Mr. Harish N. Salve, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Uday U. Lalit, Sr. Advocate (NP), Mr. A.D.N. Rao and Mr. Siddharth Chowdhury, Advocates.
For the Applicant (s) :- Mr. P.K. Manohar, Advocate.
For the Applicant in IA 3643-3644 :- Mr. Gopal Jain, Mr. R.N. Karanjawala, Ms. Tahira Karanjawala, Ms. Manik Karanjawala, Ms. Nandini Gore and Mr. Debmalya Banerjee, Advocates.
For the Applicant in IA 3277 :- Group Capt. Karan Singh Bhati, Advocate.
For the Applicant in IA 3696 :- Mr. Harris Beeran, Advocate.
For the Applicant IN IA 3645 etc. :- Mr. Vivek Tankha, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Prashant Kumar, Mr. Vaibhav Srivastava, M/s. APJ Chambers, Advocates.
For the Applicant in IA 3296 :- Ms. Binu Tamta, Advocate.
For the Applicant in IA 3515-3516 :- Mr. Joseph Kodiyanthara, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Vipin Nair, Mr. P.B. Suresh and Mr. Udayaditya Banerjee, Advccates
For M/s. Temple Law Firm :- Mr. Joseph Kodiyanthara, Sr. Advocate and Ms. Malini Poduval and Ms. Babita Santa, Advocate.
For the Applicant in IA 3712 :Mr. S.B. Upadhyay, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Santosh Mishra and Mr. Param Mishra, Advocates.
For the Applicant in IA 3692 :- Mr. Ashok Kumar Parija, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Dilip Das, Mr. R.M. Patnaik and Mr. Kedar Nath Tripathy, Advocates.
For the Applicant in IA 2782 etc. :Mr. S.B. Upadhyay, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Pawan Upadhyay, Ms. Sharmila Upadhyay, Mr. R.N. Karanjawala, Ms. Manik Karanjawala, Ms. Ruby Singh Ahuja and ms. Deepti Sarin for M/s. Karanjawala & Co., Advocates.
For the Applicant in IA 3539-40 :- Mr. Amarendra Sharan, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Tavinder Sidhu, Mr. Ganesh Kamath, Ms. Palalvi Mohan for M/s. M.V. Kini & Associates, Advocates.
For the Applicant in IA 3721 :- Ms. Vijayalakshmi Menon, Advocate,
For the Applicant in IA 2746-48 :- Mr. K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Gopal Subramanium, Sr. Advocate. Mr. Pinaki Mishra, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Ashok Kumar Parija, Sr. Advocate. Mr. Naveen Kumar, Advocate.
For the Applicant in IA 3629 :- Mr. Ajti Kumar Sinha, Sr. Advocate and Mr. T. Harish Kumar, Advocate.
For the Applicant in IA 3714 :- Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, Advocate.
For the Respondent:- Ms. Gunwant Dara, Mr. Mangal Sharma, Mr. Sitesh Narayan Singh, Mr. D.K. Thakur, Ms. Sukhbeer Kaur Bajwa and Mr. Shreekant N. Terdal, Advocates.
For the States of Arunachal Pradesh :- Mr. Anil Shrivastav and Mr. Rituraj Biswas, Advocates.
For the Gujarat :- Ms. Hemantika Wahi, Ms. Preeti Bhardwaj and Ms. Parul Kumari, Advocates.
For the Himachal Pradesh :- Ms. Pragati Neekhra, Advocate.
For the Applicant Karnataka :- Ms. Anitha Shenoy, Advocate.
For the Applicant :- Ms. Bina Madhavan,Advocate.
For the Applicant Madhya Pradesh :- Mr. Mishra Saurabh and Ms. Vanshja Shukla, Advocates.
For the Maharashtra :- Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, Advocate.
For the Odisha :- Ms. Kriti Renu Mishra and Mr. Apurva Upamanyu, Advocate..
For the Rajasthan :- Mr. Manish Singhvi, AAG., Mr. Amit Lubhaya, Mr. Milind Kumar, Mr. Ravindra Kumar and Ms. Syed Tabinda Suman, Advocates.
For the Uttar Pradesh :- Mr. Ravindra Shrivastava, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Gaurav Bhatia, Mr. Abhishek Chaudhary, Mr. V.N. Raghupathy and Ms. C.K. Sucharita, Advocates.

Headnote:
Forest Conservation Act, 1980 - Forest land - Construction of Repeater Station - Standing Committee of National Board for Wild Life has recommended that use of 0.6556 hectares of forest land falling in Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary by Border Security Force (BSF) for construction of Repeater Station near District be allowed subject - Central Empowered Committee has also imposed a further condition that approval should be obtained under Forest Conservation Act, 1980 for use of forest land and NPV at rates applicable for non-forest use of forest areas falling within Wildlife Sanctuary be deposited with the compensatory Afforestation Fund – Held, Central Empowered Committee has also considered proposal and recommended the permission to be granted for use of aforesaid forest area subject Conditions stipulated by Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife (except the condition No. (ix) relating to constructions of 1.8m high and 12.44 km - Long wall) will be strictly complied with Court order dated - Court had called for a Report from Central Empowered Committee within a period of six weeks - It is stated on behalf of Central Empowered Committee that Report could not be ready as part of information called for have not been furnished by State Government - Learned senior counsel for applicant M/s. Sarda Mines Private Limited in IA No. submits that since some of matters are pending before High Court, a prayer has been made for not furnishing required information to Central Empowered Committee – Order accordingly.

ORDER

Item 302

IA Nos. 3643-3644 in Writ Petition (Civil) No(S). 202 Of 1995 (for Impleadment and Directions)

1. List these applications after two weeks. Rejoinder, if any, be filed in the meanwhile.

Item 303

IA Nos. 3277-3280, 3373 & 3662 in Writ Petition (C) No. 202 of 1995 (For impleadment, directions, ex parte stay, exemption from filing official translation, condonation of delay in filing rejoinder affidavit)

2. No one appears for the applicant. List these applications when moved.

Item 304

IA No. 3696 in Writ Petition (Civil) No(s). 202 of 1995 (Report of Central Empowered Committee in Application No. 1368)

3. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

4. The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wild Life has recommended that the use of 0.6556 hectares of forest land falling in the Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary by the Border Security Force (BSF) for the construction of Repeater Station at Kaladungar near Khavda, District Bhuj be allowed subject to the following conditions:-

(ii) periodic inspection will be done within 500mts. Of the area to see any change in vegetation and if any change is noticed, necessary remedial action will be taken.

(iii) It shall be ensured that no damage is caused to the Wildlife and Sanctuary.

(iv) Construction materials will be brought from outside the Sanctuary and no digging of extraction of materials will be done in the Sanctuary.

(v) Speed breakers at suitable distance for safety for wildlife shall be provided.

(vi) All the conditions laid down by Government of Gujarat, GFD or other agencies will be binding on the user agency.

5. The Central Empowered Committee has also imposed a further condition that the approval should be obtained under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 for use of the forest land and NPV at the rates applicable for non-forest use of forest areas falling within the Wildlife Sanctuary be deposited with the compensatory Afforestation Fund.

6. Subject to the aforesaid conditions, the permission is granted and the interlocutory application is allowed.

Item 305

IA Nos. 3645-3647, 3700-3702, 3703-3705, 3709-3711, 3715-3717 & 3718-3720 in Writ Petition (Civil) No(s). 202 of 1995 (For impleadment, directions and exemption from filing official translation)

7. The Central Empowered Committee may submit its response to the prayers made in these applications. List these applications on 16th December, 2013.

Item 314

IA No. 3296 in 1310 in 828 in Writ Petition (Civil) No(s). 202 of 1995 (For directions)

8. The State of Rajasthan through the Secretary, Forest Department, Jaipur will be impleaded as respondent No. 5 in the interlocutory application.

9. Issue notice to the respondents. We call for a response not only from the respondents but also from the Central Empowered Committee.

10. The Central Empowered Committee will furnish a copy of the Report on the subject. List the applications after five weeks.

Item 315

IA Nos. 3515-3516 & 3532-3533 in IA No. 1173 in 77-78, 83 & 92 in Writ Petition (Civil) No(s). 202 of 1995 (For restoration and condonation of delay in filing application for restoration)

11. Delay condoned. Applications dismissed for default are restored to their original numbers. Replies be filed by the State within a period of four weeks. List thereafter.

Item 317

IA No. 3712 in Writ Petition (Civil) No(s). 202 of 1995 (Report of CEC in Application Nos. 1162 and 1371)

12. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

13. The use of 124.054 hectares of forest land falling within the Majathal Wildlife Sanctuary in the State of Himachal Pradesh for the construction of Koldam Hydro-electric Project by the National Thermal power Corporation has been cleared by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife and has also recommended for clearance by the Central Empowered Committee subject to the following conditions:-

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