Procedural fairness and the requirement for a fair opportunity to dispel adverse presumptions under Section 59B(2) of the Indian Forest Act, 1927.

JUDGMENT :

Partha Sarathi Sen, J.

1. In this revisional application which is treated as an application under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, the judgment and order dated 14th March, 2023 as passed by Learned Additional Sessions Judge, 3rd (Special) Court, Jalpaiguri in Criminal Appeal no.02 of 2021 has been impugned. By the impugned judgment the Learned Appellate Court affirmed the order of confiscation dated 07.04.2021 as passed by Authorized Officer/ Deputy Field Director, Buxa Tiger Reserve (West) Alipurduar in connection with the seizure of the vehicle of the present revisionist vide OR No.11/WD of 2019-20 dated 26.04.2019.

2. From the materials as placed before this Court it reveals that on the relevant day i.e.; on 26.04.2019 the vehicle of the appellant bearing registration no. HR-74A-9058 was intercepted by the concerned Range Officer, West Damanpur Range and on search a huge quantity of tick-block timber was found having no government hammer mark and that the driver could not produce any valid documents regarding the possession of the said timber.

3. The Authorized Officer/Deputy Field Director thereafter proceeded with the provisions of Section 59A and Section 59B of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the said Act’) and ordered for confiscation of the vehicle of the present appellant. The appellant felt aggrieved and preferred an appeal before the Appellate Court. However, by the impugned judgment and order such appeal was dismissed affirming the order dated 07.04.2021 as passed by the Authorized Officer/Deputy Field Director of the aforesaid reserve forest.

4. In support of the instant revisional application, Ms. Suman Sehanabis (Mandal), learned advocate for the revisionist at the very outset submits before this Court that both the impugned orders as passed by the Authorized Officer/ Deputy Field Director and the Appellate Court are contrary to the provisions of Section 59B of the said Act. It is contended by her that while passing the impugned orders both the Appellate Court and the said Authorized officer proceeded in wrong directions in imposing a presumption of guilt upon the present appellant which is not permissible in the eye of law. In support of her contention learned advocate for the revisionist relied upon the two reported decisions namely; Sundarvai Ambala Desai vs State of Gujarat reported in AIR 2003 SC 638 and General Insurance Counsel and Ors. VS. State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors. reported in (2010) AIR SCW 2967.

5. Per contra, Mr. Subhasish Misra, learned counsel for the State duly led by Mr. Aditi Shankar Chakraborty, Ld. Additional PP contended that both the impugned orders as passed by Learned Additional Sessions Judge, 3rd (Special) Court, Jalpaiguri and Authorized Officer/ Deputy Field Director are in accordance with the provisions as embodied in Section 59A and Section 59B of the said Act. It is contended on behalf of the State that in view of no illegality in the impugned orders as passed by Learned Additional Sessions Judge, 3rd (Special) Court, Jalpaiguri and Authorized Officer/Deputy Field Director no interference on the part of this Court is necessary. Learned advocates for the State thus submits that it is a fit case for dismissal of the instant revisional application .

6. For effective disposal of the instant revisional application the provisions of Section 59A and Section 59B of the said Act (West Bengal Amendment) are required to be looked into:-

“Section 59A. Confiscation by Forest Officer of forest -produce in the case of forest-offence believed to have been committed.-

1. Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this Chapter or in any other law for the time being in force, where a forest-offence is believed to have been committed in respect of the timber or other forest-produce which is the property of the State Government the Forest-officer or the Police-officer the timber or other forest-produce under subsection (1) of Section 52 sh