Supreme Court declares Zudpi jungles in Vidarbha as ‘forest lands’

The SC verdict on Thursday, has now provided clarity to the state government, by stating that while the land is a “forest land”, the state government can propose a plan over the next three months on the land they need for development purposes and seek its conversion with the approval of the central government and comply with the conditions laid down in the verdict.

The top court considered “peculiar circumstances” and made “an exception, without the same being treated as precedent”, in case of the Zudpi jungle lands allotted by competent authorities up to December 12, 1996 (the date of TN Godavarman judgement), for non-forest purposes.

It said that for such lands, whose classification (purpose) has not yet been changed, the state government shall seek an approval under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA), 1980, for their deletion from the list of forest areas.

The bench listed various buildings and public utilities which were on Zudpi jungle lands will be affected in the Nagpur city alone and said the same included High Court building, residences of HC judges, state secretariat, defence buildings, agricultural university and graveyards among others.

The SC added that the central government shall process state’s proposals regarding allotments of Zudpi land made after 1996, ensuring that punitive action has been taken against the concerned officers who took the decision in violation of the SC order.

As per state’s report, Zudpi lands, traditionally used as grazing areas and referred to as Gairan under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, are bushy tracts considered unsuitable for forest management.

The court passed a judgement on a batch of pleas, including the state government’s application seeking direction that the 86,409 hectares of Zudpi lands are unfit for forest management and that they do not come under the purview of FCA.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai and Justice Augustine Masih directed the Maharashtra government to submit a consolidated proposal for each district.

The bench led by CJI Gavai said that it could arrive at  a solution to “balance the rights of the citizens at large with the interest of the environment” due to efforts made by the court-ordered Central Empowered Committee (CEC).

It directed that the Centre shall consider and approve such proposals by state without imposing any condition for compensatory afforestation or depositing Net Present Value (NPV) levies. The SC directed the Central and state governments to mutually consult and avail prior approval of CEC, so as devise a format for processing the proposal of diversion of Zudpi Jungle land for non-forestry activities within a period of three months.

Welcoming the decision, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “It is indeed a landmark and historic decision and I wholeheartedly thank the CJI. The SC order will be a huge boost to development of Vidarbha, which was stalled for the last several decades as Zudpi jungle came under the reserved forest category. Though SC order paves the way for development, it also has put certain terms and conditions which are necessary to ensure perfect balance between the development and environment.”

The state government, through Nagpur Divisional Commissioner, claimed that Zudpi lands from six districts of eastern Vidarbha, including Nagpur, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Wardha and Gondia (which were erstwhile part of Central provinces), have been used for various non-forest purposes for the past several decades.

Advocate Siddharth Dharmadhikari for the state argued that due to reorganisation of states and inaction of certain bureaucrats, the revenue records were not corrected and such parcels erroneously continued to be Zudpi forest lands. He said the denial of relief would cause “grave and irreparable damage to lakhs of citizens” and several projects will remain stuck.

However, senior advocate Madhavi Divan, representing intervenor Prasad Khale argued that allowing de-notification of Zudpi forest lands would lead to degradation of healthy forests. Justice Gavai observed that large chunks of Zudpi jungle have been utilised for residential or agricultural purposes, government offices, public utilities such as schools and primary health centres and defence services among others.

“Citizens who are residing in the houses built on these lands for decades cannot be permitted to be dishoused. The agriculturists who have been allotted lands for their livelihood in order to give effect to the promise of social and economic equality to the citizens of this country cannot be deprived of their livelihood at this stage. The citizens cannot be deprived of public amenities which are essential for living in their day-to-day life in a dignified manner,” the bench noted.

The court also directed the state to declare all un-allotted “fragmented land parcels (with area less than 3 hectares and not adjoining any forest area)” as “protected forests”. It told the district authorities to ensure no further encroachments, failing which, the concerned Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) will be held responsible.

The SC ordered Special Task Forces in each district to remove encroachments made after October 25, 1980 (after FCA came in force), within two years. It said that after the scrutiny under FCA of the state’s proposal for diversion of non-forest use, the lands shall not be diverted to any non-governmental entity.

The SC directed the state revenue department to hand over possession of remaining area from the 7.76 lakh hectares, if any, to forest department within a year and the said land be utilised only for the purpose of compensatory afforestation.

The court asked the CEC to monitor progress of the transfer of the forest land and said that the other Zudpi lands will not be allowed for compensatory afforestation unless the Chief Secretary certifies non-availability of non-forest land for the same.