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K. VINOD CHANDRAN, C. JAYACHANDRAN
State Of Kerala – Appellant
Versus
Fring Ford Estates Ltd. – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
K.Vinod Chandran, J.
The appellant is a Company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1913, in the year 1936. The appellant filed separate applications under S.10(1) of the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Act [for brevity, 'the EFL Act'], which were rejected by the Tribunal, against which common order, the appeals are filed. The appellant claimed that the Company originally had 490 Acres planted with tea, the land having been purchased from its previous owner, as per a document of 1936 which was produced as Ext.A1. The Tea Board issued a certificate to the Company on 06.08.1979 declaring tea plantation on 150 Acres of land belonging to the Company which alone, remained with the Company after the vesting of private forests under the Kerala Private Forest (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971 (for brevity ‘the Vesting Act’). The Company, at the time of the application, was said to be in possession of 99.50 Acres of land on which vesting was threatened by the DFO, North Wayanad and a notification was first issued with respect to 10 hectares. Later, an erratum notification was published alleging a further extent of 5.6900 hectares also as
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 ....
'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....
State having deprived owner of the possession of land and legal right to cultivate it cannot take advantage of its own wrong.
The court affirmed that the property in question does not qualify as 'Ecologically Fragile Land' or 'Forest' under the Kerala Forest Act, based on the evidence presented.
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....
It is well settled that local inspection is not intended to substitute the enquiry envisaged in law.
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 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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