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2024 Supreme(Online)(NGT) 5496
NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL NEW DELHI (PRINCIPAL BENCH)
Sudhir Agarwal, Judicial Member, Afroz Ahmad, Expert Member
Lal Ji Kumar – Appellant
Versus
Divisional Forest Officer-Nainital – Respondent
Original Application No. 709/2023 (IA No. 272/2024)
For the Appellants/Petitioners: None
For the Respondents: Mr. Deepak Bora and Ms. Saima Khatoon, Mr. Balendu Shekhar and Ms. Tanisha Samanta, Mr. Mukesh Verma and Ms. Vatsala Tripathi
NGT lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate revenue-forest boundary/title disputes; limited to enforcing Forest Conservation Act violations post-State resolution via expert survey.
Headnote:(A) National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 - Schedule I - Forest Conservation Act, 1980 - Indian Forest Act, 1927 - Boundary dispute between revenue land and reserved forest land - Applicant sought demarcation of boundaries, removal of encroachments on forest land - Joint Committee reports revealed discrepancies in historical settlement maps (1899-97 vs 1955-56) showing partial overlap of forest pillars within revenue khasra - Survey of India report confirmed disputed area as forest land - Tribunal held title disputes not adjudicable, to be resolved in civil court - NGT jurisdiction limited to enforcing Forest Conservation Act violations for non-forest activities without permission - State directed to finalize boundary decision based on Survey of India report within two months and remove encroachments if found. (Paras 3, 5, 14, 17-21)
(B) Environmental Jurisdiction - Limitations - Where boundary/title dispute unresolved by State authorities, directions for encroachment removal premature - Aggrieved parties free to pursue civil remedies - Tribunal enforces statutory environmental laws, not land title adjudication. (Paras 17, 20, 22)
Facts of the case:
Application filed for precise demarcation of revenue-forest boundaries per revenue maps, establishment of geo-coordinated pillars, and removal of encroachments on specific khasra numbers surrounded by reserved forest. Joint surveys and reports highlighted mapping discrepancies; Forest Department claimed khasra within reserved forest per 1933 notification, Revenue Department per recent settlements. Survey of India GPS survey opined disputed area as forest land.
Findings of Court:
State to take final decision on boundary dispute per Survey of India report within two months; if part of khasra found within reserved forest with encroachments, remove in accordance with law. Application disposed of; compliance report by 15.12.2024.
Issues: Whether Tribunal could direct boundary demarcation and encroachment removal amid unresolved revenue-forest mapping dispute; scope of NGT jurisdiction over title disputes vs environmental violations.
Ratio Decidendi: NGT enforces Forest Conservation Act for non-forest activities on forest land without permission but cannot adjudicate title/boundary disputes, which require civil court remedies; State must resolve via expert survey before enforcement actions.
Result: Original Application disposed of with directions.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. applicant seeks demarcation and encroachment removal. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. joint committee identifies khasra 424 boundary dispute. (Para 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7) |
| 3. tribunal impleads parties; state notes district committee. (Para 8 , 9 , 10) |
| 4. survey of india confirms disputed area as forest land. (Para 11 , 12 , 13 , 14) |
| 5. title dispute remediable in civil court. (Para 15 , 16 , 17) |
| 6. ngt enforces forest act violations. (Para 18 , 19 , 20) |
| 7. state must resolve boundary dispute expeditiously. (Para 21 , 22 , 23 , 24) |
ORDER
1. Mr. Lal Ji Kumar has filed present application under the provisions of National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (hereinafter referred to as ‘NGT Act, 2010’) for issue of directions to the concerned authorities to demarcate boundary line between Revenue and Forest land precisely and scientifically, by establishing boundary pillars with precise geo coordinates according to the approved/notified Revenue Maps, remove encroachments on forest land and take possession of the same.
2. Applicant has stated that Gethiya, a small Revenue village having area approximately 5 to 7 hectares is located on a hill top in Nainital, Uttarakhand. It is surrounded on all its side by the Reserved Forest. Some unknown persons have dismantled boundary pillars demarcating boundary lines between forest land and revenue land and made encroachments over forest land including Khasra numbers 421, 423 and 424. Complaints were made to the concerned authorities but no action has been taken.
3. Complaint was registered on 28.11.2023 and Tribunal found it appropriate to issue notices to respondents impleaded in Original Application (hereinafter referred to as ‘OA’) i.e. Divisional Forest Officer, Nainital Forest Division, District Magistrate, Nainital and Commissioner/Secretary Board of Revenue, Uttarakhand. Tribunal also found it appropriate to obtain a factual report for which it constituted a Joint Committee comprising representative of Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board (hereinafter referred to as ‘UKPCB’); Divisional Forest Officer, Nainital (hereinafter referred to as ‘DFO, Nainital’); and District Magistrate, Nainital (hereinafter referred to as ‘DM, Nainital’).
4. Committee was required to submit report within 2 months.
5. Joint Committee report was submitted through UK PCB which stated as under:-
Translation by Tribunal
“2- According to the revenue records, from the observation of Khatauni of Khasra No. 397, 421, 423, 424 of Village Gethiya Patti Bhawali, Khasra No. 397 area is 0.307, 421 area is 0.135, 423 area is 0.129. Total area of 03 Khasra nos. is 0.571 hectare. At present, in Non-ZA Khatauni Account No. 70, Government of Uttarakhand Category 09(3)3 is recorded as barren, which is in the barren condition on the spot and in its actual form. No encroachment of any kind was found on that place. During the joint survey, the Forest Department also declared Khasra nos. 397, 421, 423 to be outside its area. But Khasra no. 424 was declared within its limit by the Forest Department, whereas according to the Revenue Department, Khasra no. 424 area 1.097 hectare is registered in the name of account holders like Hansa Dutt etc. under the rights of landholders with category 01 (a) transferable rights. According to the recent settlement map, the boundary of Khasra no. 424 matches with the boundary of the Forest Department, in which pillar numbers 08 and 09 of the Forest Department are located outside Khasra no. 424.
2- The Forest Department has informed that according to the map of the Department, Khasra no. 424 is coming under Kuria Compartment no. 05 under Manora Range. Apart from this, the Deputy Divisional Forest Officer, Nainital, Forest Division, Nainital has informed vide letter number 197/13-1 dated 15.01.2024 that earlier a dispute had also arisen regarding this land, in which the Divisional Forest Officer, Nainital Forest Division, Nainital had sent a letter no. 2554/27-19 dated 28.01.2021 to get the survey work done by the Indian Survey
