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K. VINOD CHANDRAN, C. JAYACHANDRAN
State Of Kerala Represented By The Chief Secretary To Government of Kerala – Appellant
Versus
Kalathil Ambady S/o. Kannan – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
K. Vinod Chandran, J.
1. The appeal is preferred by the State against the order of the Forest Tribunal, Kozhikode. The application before the Tribunal was one filed under Section 10(1) of the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Act, 2003 (hereinafter 'EFL Act'). One Kunhabdulla filed O.A 144/1975 to exempt 22.50 acres of land from the purview of Kerala Private Forest (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971 (hereinafter the Vesting Act of 1971). Ten acres out of the total was not treated as vested, even by the department. The Forest Tribunal declared 12.5 acres to be exempted which was confirmed by this Court by order dated 05.11.1984. The representations to restore the land having fell on deaf ears, Kunhabdulla filed O.P No.3704/1992 before this Court, pending which he died. His wife and son were impleaded and the forest department took the stand that they are ready to restore 7.5 acres of land; the balance 5 acres having been excluded, being in excess of the ceiling limit under the Kerala Land Reforms Act. Based on this the OP was allowed on 07.06.1994, directing restoration to be done within two months. The restoration in effect was made onl
State having deprived owner of the possession of land and legal right to cultivate it cannot take advantage of its own wrong.
'Forest', which speaks of lands which are principally covered with naturally grown trees and undergrowth and includes any recognized, declared, protected or otherwise forest land.
Under EFL Act, applicant has to prove that land is principally cultivated with long duration crops or is a plantation, or beneficial enjoyment for a building, which alone can exclude it from definiti....
Property not 'forest' under EFL Act if principally planted teak; inadequate inspection requires remand.
As per definition of an ’ecologically fragile land’ vide Section 2(b), forest land should predominantly support vegetation, which again is natural vegetation.
The court clarified that a property exempted under the Vesting Act may still be classified as ecologically fragile under the EFL Act, emphasizing the need for evidence of cultivation as of the appoin....
The EFL Act requires a nature assessment of land as of the appointed date, not merely the intent to cultivate, to determine ecological status.
The principal cultivation or existence of tea plantation, for the land to be excluded from the definition of EFL Act, has to be established as existing on 02.06.2000, the appointed day under the EFL ....
The court upheld that property not principally covered by trees cannot be classified as forest under the EFL Act, rejecting the State's claim regarding ecologically fragile land.
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