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SABINA, SATYEN VAIDYA
Raj Kumar S/o. Shri Nand Lal – Appellant
Versus
State Of Himachal Pradesh – Respondent
ORDER :
1. By way of instant petition, petitioner has sought quashing and setting aside of communication dated 02.03.2022, Annexure P2, issued by respondent No.3, whereby the said respondent has refused to take further action with respect to issuance of demarcation/marking orders of Khair trees standing over the land granted as Nautor in Jeehan beat of Nadaun Range of Hamirpur Forest Division (hereinafter referred to as Jeehan beat for brevity), in view of pendency of certain Civil Writ Petitions before this Court.
2. The case of the petitioner, briefly stated, is that he is a Forest Contractor. Jeehan beat was open under tenyear felling programme (for short, “TYFP”) during the year 202021. Total 38 land owners of Jeehan beat authorised the petitioner to fell from their respective lands Khair trees under TYFP after seeking requisite permissions. As per petitioner, demarcation and marking etc., of trees could not be done in 202021. Respondent No.2, vide communication dated 07.12.2021 granted extension for demarcation of land, marking/felling of Khair trees during 202122 in favour of petitioner in terms of para 8(i) of GoHP order dated 10.09.2002.
3. As against the aforesaid facts, the
Extension cannot be in isolation. It has to be linked to the original application.
The court emphasized that extension of time for land demarcation and tree felling must be granted based on verified adverse conditions, rejecting previous unjustified grounds of refusal.
The meaning of the word “forest” in the Act, it is obvious that prior approval of the central Government is required for any non-forest activity within the area of any “forest.”
Tree felling permission cannot be refused merely on pendency of land disputes without interim order or opportunity of hearing; competent authority must follow Section 5 procedure, verify possession, ....
Conditions for tree felling permissions can include time limits; a right to cut trees does not extend indefinitely past permission expiry.
The main legal point established in the judgment is the need for expeditious decision-making by the Revenue Authorities on pending demarcation applications, the rights of the government to take posse....
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