R.1 Short title, extent and commencement

       (1) These rules may be called the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003.
       (2) They shall extend to the whole of India except the Sate of Jammu and Kashmir.
       (3) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
       
       —————
        1. Vide G.S.R. 23 (E), dated 10th January, 2003, published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Pt. II, Sec. 3 (i), dated 10th January, 2003.

R.2 Definitions

       In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,—
        (a) “Act” means the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (69 of 1980);
        1[(b) “Committee” means the Forest Advisory Committee constituted under section 3 of the Act;]
        (c) “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Committee;
        (d) “member” means a member of the Committee;
        (e) “Nodal Officer” means any officer not below the rank of Conservator of Forests, authorised by the State Government to deal with the forest conservation matters under the Act;
        (f) “Regional Office” means a Regional Office of the Central government in the Ministry of Environment and Fore

R.3 Composition of the Forest Advisory Committee

       (1) The Forest Advisory Committee shall be composed of the following members, namely:—
        (i) the Director General of Forests, Ministry of
       Environment and Forests —Chairperson
        (ii) the Additional Director General of Forests,
       Ministry of Environment and Forests —Member
        (iii) the Additional Commissioner (Soil Conservation),
       Ministry of Agriculture —Member
        (iv) three non-official members who shall be

R.3(a) Constitution of the Regional Empowered Committee

       (1) A Regional Empowered Committee shall be constituted at each of the Regional Offices and shall consist of the following members, namely:—
        (i) the Regional Principal Chief Conservator
       of Forests (Central) —Chairperson
        (ii) three non-official members who shall be
       experts one each in Mining, Civil Engineering
       and Development Economics —Members
        (iii) the Conservator of Forests or the Deputy —Member
       Conservator of Forests

R.4 Terms of appointment of non-official members shall be as follows

       (i) a non-official member shall hold his office for a period of two years;
        (ii) a non-official member shall cease to hold office if he becomes of unsound mind, becomes insolvent or is convicted by court of law on a criminal offence involving moral turpitude;
        (iii) a non-official member may be removed from his office if he fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Committee without any sufficient cause or reasons;
        (iv) any vacancy in the membership caused by any reason mentioned in clauses (ii) and (iii) shall be filled by the government for the unexpired portion of two years term.
        (v) travelling and daily allowance shall be payable to the non-official members of the Committee at the highest rate admiss

R.5 Conduct of business of the Committee

       (i) The chairperson shall call the meeting of the Committee whenever considered necessary, but not less than once in a month.
        (ii) The meeting of the Committee shall be held at New Delhi.
        (iii) In a case where the Chairperson is satisfied that inspection of site or sites of forest land proposed to be used for non-forest purposes shall be necessary or expedient in connection with the consideration of the proposal or proposals received under sub-rule (3) of rule 6, he may direct that the meetings of the Committee to be held at a place other than New Delhi from where such inspection of site or sites is necessary.
        (iv) The Chairperson shall preside over every meeting of the Committee at which he is present.
        (v) Ev

R.6 Submission of proposals seeking approval of the central government under section 2 of the Act

       (1) Every user agency, who wants to use any forest land for non-forestry purposes, shall make its proposal in the relevant Form appended to these rules, i.e., Form A for proposals seeking first time approval under the Act, and Form B for proposals seeking renewal of leases, where approval of the Central Government under the Act had already been obtained, to the Nodal Officer of the concerned State Government or the Union Territory Administration, as the case may be, along with requisite information and documents, complete in all respects.
       (2) The user agency shall endorse a copy of the proposal, along with a copy of the receipt obtained from the office of the Nodal Officer, to the concerned Divisional Forest Officer or the Conservator of Forests, Regional Office, as well as the Monitoring Cell of the Forest Conservation Division of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Paryavara

R.7 Committee to advise on proposals received by the Central Government

       (1) The Central Government shall refer every proposal, complete in all respects, received by it under 1[sub-rule (6) of rule 6] including site inspection report, wherever required, to the Committee for its advice thereon.
       2[(1A) These proposals shall be processed and put up before the Committee and the recommendations of the Committee shall be placed within a period of ninety days of the receipt of such proposals from the State Government or the Union Territory Administration, as the case may be, before the Central Government for its decision.]
       (2) The committee shall have due regard to all or any of the following matters while tendering its advice on the proposals referred to it under sub-rule (1), namely:—
        (a) whether the forests land proposed to be used for non-forest purpose form

R.8 .

       8. 7[****]
       7. Omitted by GSR 94(E) dt 03.02.2004.

R.9 Proceedings against persons guilty of offences under the Act

       (1) The Central Government may, by notification, authorise any officer not below the rank of Conservator of Forests or the concerned forest officer having territorial jurisdiction over the forest land in respect of which the said offence is said to have been committed, to file complaints against the person (s) prima facie found guilty of offence under the Act or the violation of the rules made thereunder, in the court having jurisdiction in the matter:
       Provided that no complaint shall be filed in the court, without giving the person(s) or officer(s) or authority(ies) against whom the allegations of offence exist, an opportunity to explain his or their conduct and to show cause, by issuing a notice in writing of not less than sixty days, as to why a complaint should not be filed in the court against him or them for alleged offences.
       (2) T