Supreme Court refuses to stay ‘death knell’ amendments to Forest Conservation Act

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, which will take effect on December 1, the Hindustan Times reported.

The modified law will exclude large swathes of “deemed forest” land across India from protection and open them up to development. A “deemed forest” refers to land that is not formally classified as a “forest” by central or state authorities in revenue records by notification under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by 13 retired public servants who have challenged the constitutional validity of the amendments. In its new form, the Act will sound the “death knell” for India’s forests, they have said.

However, “deemed forest” lands conform to the “dictionary meaning” of forests that was upheld by the Supreme Court in its TN Godavarman judgement of 1996. This refers to a large area with significant tree cover, The Wire reported.

This ruling has protected vast tracts of eco-sensitive and Adivasi lands under the Forest Conservation Act, albeit without legal recognition, according to The Hindu.

The new law, officially known as the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, or Forest (Conservation and Augmentation) Act, was passed by the Lok Sabha in July and the Rajya Sabha in August despite protests by the Opposition, MongaBay reported.

Prashant Nanda from Odisha’s...

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