Chennai: The Madras high court has upheld an order of a single judge, dismissing a petition from Quaide Milleth Educational and Social Trust, challenging an order of the state government, resuming 29. 33 acres of Reserved Forest Land in Kancheepuram district, out of 40 acres placed at the disposal of the trust for educational purposes.
A division bench comprising Justices Vineet Kothari and C.V.Karthikeyan dismissed the appeal filed by the Quaide Milleth Educational and Social Trust, challenging an order of a single judge dated August 3, 2018.
The bench said, "In our considered opinion, the appellant Trust is not entitled to assail the resumption of 29.33 acres of Nanmangalam Reserve Forest in Kancheepuram district. The forest conservation is a zealously guarded environment safety measure taken by the Parliament, the state governments as well as the Constitutional Courts of the country. The stupendous effort of the Apex Court in a Public Interest Litigation jurisdiction in T.N.Godavarman case is almost a research topic for Research Scholars and in series of orders passed by the Supreme Court in that case and other allied matters, in the light of developments of Forest Law by the Parliament, the Forest (Conservation) Act was enacted and it would be clear that any misuse, abuse or commercial exploitation of forest lands is scrupulously denied, deprecated and prohibited by the legislatures as well as the courts in the country".
The bench said this court finds that the benign leniency shown by the state government in not resuming the remaining part of 10.67 acres of the same Reserved Forest cannot be allowed to be misused or abused by allowing the claim of the appellant trust to exceed any further and claim the whole of 40 acres. The fact that the appellant trust has raised unauthorised construction also, does not augur well for the appellant trust. Therefore, any construction raised beyond the said area of 10.67 acres was absolutely illegal encroachment on the part of the appellant trust and would therefore deserve to be removed forthwith, the bench added.
The bench said in order to maintain and continue with the possession of 10.67 acres of land permitted by the state government as of now, the appellant trust shall plant at least 500 new trees within the said area of 10.67 acres and which may be fruit bearing or giving shadow and which were suitable as per local conditions, within 6 months and a duly verified report of the same by the competent authority of the forest department and countersigned by the district collector concerned has to be produced before the court in compliance. The trust shall be further responsible for maintaining the said new trees in future as well. If the said conditions were not complied with, the state shall be free to resume the balance land of 10.67 acres also from the said trust, the bench added. The bench also said the state shall remove the encroachment/construction outside the said area of 10.67 acre immediately.
