1. M. F. A. No. 235 of 1977 is an appeal filed by the State of Kerala and the Custodian of Vested Forests, Palghat from a common decision passed by the Forest Tribunal, Calicut, on two separate applications field by two Companies, M/s Amalgamated Malabar Estates (P; Ltd., and the Indian Timber and Plywood Corporation Ltd., wherein they had prayed for a declaration that the Eucalyptus Plantations raised by them (in the case of the first Company 180 hectares of land by name Panikara Malavaram situated in resurvey 1/1 of Puduppadi Village, Kozhikode Taluk and in the case of the second Company 340 hectares of land by name Poithana Malavaram of Pallaperuvanna Village, Quilandy Taluk, Kozhikode District) have not vested in the Government under the Kerala Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971, (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). S.2(f) of the Act defines Private Forests There is no dispute that the lands in respect of which the declarations were sought for in the two petitions are situated in the erstwhile Malabar District and that the provisions of the Madras Preservation of Private Forests Act. 1947, applied to these lands. The appellants-respondents in the