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Hindustan Times
26-04-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
New hope of preserving Aravalli forest crops up in form of boards in Faridabad
The first boards appeared last week; then more did. All say the same thing: 'This property, 430 acres of land at village Mangar has been attached by Benami Prohibition Unit, Chandigarh of Income Tax Department.'The boards have given environmentalists hope that at least 430 acres of what once used to be village commons will be recognised as 'deemed forest' and preserved for posterity. After all, this is no ordinary land. Mangar spread over 4262 acres (of which 3810 acres is hill area) is among the most biodiversity rich areas of the Aravallis in the National Capital Region (NCR). Within Mangar village, Mangar Bani (677.12 acres) is NCR's most sacred grove, and possibly the only patch of primary forest in the region. It is also home to around 240 species of birds and 15 species of mammals including leopards and hyenas. Many experts believe the integrity of the Aravallis is intrinsic to the well-being of around 64 million people who live in NCR. Though Mangar meets all criteria for a forest,it has still not been classified as such by the Haryana government. The Supreme Court's December 12, 1996 verdict in TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India & Others case directed that 'forests' would not only include those understood in the dictionary sense, but also any area recorded as forest in government records irrespective of the ownership. HT reported on October 3, 2023 that the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 will benefit real estate companies that own land in what was to be declared 'deemed forest' in Haryana's Aravallis. One of the contentious provisions of the new law is that it exempts unrecorded deemed forests from the modified law on forest conservation and hence leaves areas such as Mangar Bani vulnerable. Though the notice boards by IT department do not mention the companies involved in benami (shell company- or proxy) transactions, jamabandi papers and IT department orders perused by Hindustan Times point to Kenwood Mercantile Private Limited and Goodfaith Builders Private Limited . One document, from the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Benami Prohibition Unit, dated December 31, 2019 states: 'Whereas information was received by the undersigned, after indepth perusal of which a prima-facie satisfaction was arrived at to hold and believe, that the shareholdings of the companies Kenwood Mercantile Private Limited and Goodfaith Builders Private Limited and thereby the rights over the 430 acres of land at Village Mangar, Faridabad owned by these two Companies are Benami Properties.' That document also points to the beneficial owners as M3M India Holdings and six individuals. M3M did not respond to queries from HT. A ministry of finance order dated March 29, 2022, also perused by HT, confirms that these are benami properties that are being attached. However, boards have come up in Mangar demarcating the area only last week. The matter is now in the Punjab Haryana High Court. The revenue record for Mangar from 1963-64 shows that the area is gair mumkin pahar (uncultivable land) and recorded as panchayat deh or owned by panchayat. HT's analysis of jamabandi papers in 2023 had revealed that large parts of land in Mangar and Mangar Bani are owned by companies like M3M, Ireo and the Patanjali group. Around 1973-74, through a mutation (no 155), around 3809.63 acres of land here was mutated from panchayat deh to shamlat deh and further sub-divided for private sale. The mutation was sanctioned on the basis of an order of a sub-judge in Ballabhgarh dated March 14, 1973, according to Chetan Agrawal, a Gurugram based forest analyst. 'Some villagers from Mangar moved the local court to get a judgement in their favour to privatise the common land. That was the beginning of how land started to be sold to private developers in Mangar. Thereafter, several other villages near Mangar also moved court to get an order to privatise. Around 1985-86, the consolidation proceedings were misused to illegally partition the panchayat/shamlat hill area of Mangar,' added Agarwal. Agarwal wrote to Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad on July 12, 2022 asking for a cancellation of Mutation No. 155 in Mangar village and restoration of ownership and control of Mangar Bani sacred grove and other gair mum kin pahar shamlat common lands to the panchayat. The Supreme Court in a judgement dated April, 7, 2022 in Civil Appeal No. 6990 of 2014 State of Haryana v. Jai Singh citing earlier judgements held that shamlat land is to be vested with the Panchayat.. In an earlier judgement dated January 28, 2011 in Jagpal Singh v. State of Punjab, {2011) also, the SC had held that all common lands including shamlat lands must be restored to the Gram Panchayats. A PIL has also been filed in the High Court in 2022 by retired Lt Col Oberoi to implement these judgements in Mangar and to restore the lands to the panchayats. FOREST SECRETARY QUOTE 'I am happy that the IT department has finally put up these boards. They have come up only now but these cases on benami transactions are years old. This will send a message to more real estate companies who bought land here through dubious transactions. It is unfortunate but villagers will always want economic benefit and possibly do not understand the value of commons. This is a paradise for birds, there are several wetlands here and all of Mangar acts as a groundwater recharge site for entire NCR,' said Sunil Harsana, conservationist and resident of Mangar village. 'This attachment of the forests of Mangar Bani provides a wakeup call to both citizens and decision makers on the murky nature of real estate holdings in the Aravalli forests, with hidden benami owners, and fraudulent privatisation of common lands. It exposes the kinds of interests behind the regulatory capture of forest and Aravalli policy-making in the state of Haryana – and why issues like the guidelines for identifying deemed forests as per dictionary meaning, are being stalled. The need of the hour is to conserve the Aravallis common land forests for their regional environmental benefits for the entire NCR, and firmly kept off limits for real estate,' said Agarwal. (The reporter is a recipient of Promise of Commons Media Fellowship, on the significance of Commons and its community stewardship)
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
In Mangar ‘forest', two I-T dept attachment notices spring up
1 2 Gurgaon: Mangar's flora has seen two additions – signboards on which are scribbled land attachment notices from the income-tax department. The notices, which were originally issued in 2022 but were put up at the site only this month, proclaim that 430 acres of land in Mangar have been attached as benami property. The notices underline both the peculiarity of Mangar – a protected pristine forest that is not legally recognised as one – and the oddity of the larger Aravalis that it is part of. Most of Aravali land is privately owned, making the revenue department, and not the forest department, its custodian. Private ownership has been the primary cause of degradation of the Aravalis over decades because of large-scale construction. You Can Also Check: Gurgaon AQI | Weather in Gurgaon | Bank Holidays in Gurgaon | Public Holidays in Gurgaon The land in question is part of the Mangar Bani grove and its buffer zone, a 1,200-acre stretch along the Delhi-Haryana border that was notified as a 'no-construction zone' by Haryana govt in 2016. "This property i.e. 430 acres in village Mangar, Faridabad, has been attached by Benami Prohibition Unit (Chandigarh) of Income Tax department under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, vice order dated 29.03.2022 passed by adjudicating authority," the boards put up on April 15 read. The attachment notice of March 2022 adds that the 430 acres are held by "benamidars" (nominal owners) for "beneficial owners (actual controllers)". The notices name the firms Kenwood Mercantile, Goodfaith Builders, M/s Peakwood Realty, M/s Agrim Infratech, and individuals Lal Chand Bansal and Shakuntala Rani as nominal owners. Real estate company M3M India and six other individuals are named as beneficiaries. Asked about the case, which is currently in Punjab and Haryana high court, a spokesperson for the realtor said on Friday the attached land is "proprietarily owned by the promoters of M3M Group". "The matter is currently sub judice, and we are optimistic about a favourable outcome. Furthermore, we affirm that there is no element or component of benami transactions involved in this regard," the spokesperson said. This land has, however, been involved in controversies even before the benami case. In 2016, National Green Tribunal (NGT) denied M3M's claim that the land owned by it in Mangar was agricultural, not Aravali forest. NGT referred to two surveys by the forest department and Forest Survey of India (FSI) to conclude that this was densely vegetated land. "125 to 175 acres fall in Manger Bani sacred forest and the rest is in the surrounding areas recorded in the revenue records as gair mumkin pahar (uncultivable hills)… The area claimed by respondents 6 to 8 is predominantly covered by open dense forest. It satisfies all the criterions of a forest," NGT's order of March 2016 read. A few months later, the same year, on the directions of NCR Planning Board, Haryana govt issued a notification to ban construction in 600 acres of the core Mangar Bani zone and another 600 acres, which it earmarked as its 'buffer zone'. The only forest of its kind in the Aravalis, Mangar has no legal recognition as a forest because Haryana has not defined forests. Hence, provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act are not applicable to it. Going by the Supreme Court order to states to follow the dictionary meaning of the forest, Mangar should be protected under FCA. Experts told TOI it was this lack of this 'forest' tag that over the years had facilitated splintering of ownership of land, allowing ownership to change hands. "Even after three decades of Supreme Court orders to identify forests, Haryana has not been able to start the process. Supreme Court in the 2011 Lafarge judgment and the 1996 Godavarman case directed all states to identify forests as per their dictionary meaning. This case shows how the rich and powerful have bought Aravali forest areas in Haryana," retired Indian forest service officer MD Sinha, former chief conservator of forests for south Haryana, told TOI. Sinha said that in such a situation, govt "should not deal with semantics of what constitutes a forest" but focus on "conserving whatever forest Haryana has left". Chetan Agarwal, a forest analyst, too said the main concern was that of "legal status" of forests. "Forest status is still hanging. Besides, SC's orders to give ownership of village common land to panchayats have not been implemented. This is one land parcel that the I-T department should conserve and secure for future generations," he said. In the 2011 Lafarge order, which was linked to environmental approvals given for mining in Meghalaya, Supreme Court had directed all states to identify and map all forest-like areas. Preceding this ruling was the 1996 TN Godavarman case, which said that forests must be recognised on the dictionary definition of 'forest'. This meant that any area with characteristics of forests must be protected under FCA, regardless of the land's status in govt records. This concept, called 'deemed' forest, effectively widened the scope of FCA. The top court, while hearing petitions in March this year, reiterated its directions given in the Lafarge order and told all states to identify forest areas and submit their findings to the central govt in six months. State officials had told TOI earlier this month that Haryana govt has formed committees to work on the 'dictionary definition' of forests, but they can start the process only after another panel finalises a definition of 'forest'. "The committee will soon establish criteria for 'forest' definition to ensure that Mangar Bani and similar forest-like areas across Haryana receive protection under FCA. This is crucial, as these areas currently lack the necessary legal support to prevent encroachment. We had a meeting recently and one more is planned next month. Soon, we will be able to reach a decision on the criteria," Vineet Garg, principal chief conservator of forests, said on Friday.
