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Indian Express
a day ago
- General
- Indian Express
Vidarbha's ‘Zudpi' scrub lands are ‘forest' lands: how SC ruling has struck a balance between development and environment concerns
After several decades of litigation over about 86,000 hectares of Zudpi jungle (shrub forest) lands peculiar to Maharashtra's eastern Vidarbha region, the Supreme Court last month ruled that such lands should be considered as 'forest' lands. On May 22, the top court provided clarity on the usage of Zudpi lands, saying they cannot be converted without prior approval from the central government, and only after complying with the conditions laid down by the court. An official report referred to by the court says Zudpi is a Marathi word that literally translates to bushes or shrubs, and Zudpi land means an inferior type of unoccupied land with bushy growth. The term was used for all wastelands that were not occupied by individual farmers for cultivation and other purposes. According to the report, Zudpi jungle lands are peculiar to six districts of eastern Vidarbha (Nagpur division) – Nagpur, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Wardha, and Gondia – and have been used for non-forest purposes for the past several decades. These lands, traditionally used for grazing, were classified as Gairan under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966. For decades, legal status uncertain Vidarbha's Zudpi lands remained in a legal limbo for decades due to administrative lapses, inconsistent government actions, and contrasting interpretations of India's forest laws. Initially vested with the Revenue Department, these lands were used for development, public amenities like schools, health centres, water pipelines, burial grounds, and for allotment to landless farmers. They were also used for infrastructure projects, including railways, defence, and irrigation. After the reorganisation of states in 1960, similar lands elsewhere in Maharashtra were recorded as Gairan or Gurcharan. However, in Vidarbha, they continued to be classified as 'Zudpi Jungle' due to bureaucratic inaction. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (FCA) prohibited diversion of forest land without the Centre's approval. However, in November 1987, the Maharashtra government issued an order declaring Zudpi lands as 'scrub forests' that would not attract the provisions of FCA, and handed them to the Revenue Department for afforestation and grazing purposes. This 1987 Government Order was challenged by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court. While this plea was pending, the Centre in February 1992 changed and relaxed its earlier position. It clarified that Zudpi Jungle would continue to be treated as 'forest lands' under the FCA; however, for the part of Zudpi lands that were used for non-forest purposes, the state government shall make a proposal to the Centre seeking its approval under the FCA. Taking a cue from the Centre's decision, the Maharashtra government in 1994 withdrew its 1987 order. With these changing positions, ambiguity prevailed until the Supreme Court's December 12, 1996 judgment in the 'TN Godavarman Thirumulpad' case, which stated that Zudpi lands would also be treated as 'forest lands' under the FCA. In 1998, a High-Powered Committee appointed by the state government recommended that 92,115 hectares should be declared protected forests and 86,409 hectares that were unfit for forest use should be de-notified. Eight years ago, the state government again pushed to denotify Zudpi jungle lands. In 2019, the Maharashtra government, through the Divisional Commissioner, Nagpur, filed an interim application and sought the SC's approval to exclude the latter category of land from the purview of FCA. The SC formed a Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which filed its first report after site visits. Since some issues were yet to be resolved, the SC last year sought another report from the CEC. This report formed the basis of the SC's May 22, 2025 verdict. GOVERNMENT: The Maharashtra government argued that Zudpi lands were never forest lands, and due to the reorganisation of states and the inaction of certain officials, the revenue records were never corrected. As such, these lands continued to be erroneously described as Zudpi lands in revenue records. The state argued that denying it relief would lead to 'grave and irreparable damage' to lakhs of citizens, and would stall several projects. INTERVENER: Environmentalist Prasad Khale, intervener in the case, however, argued that de-notifying these lands would degrade healthy forests and disrupt wildlife corridors. He submitted that the 2025 CEC report had ignored ecological concerns, including those of wildlife corridors and the protection of scrub forests, which should not be used for non-forest activities. SC directives strike a balance The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai and Justice Augustine Masih said that it could arrive at a solution to 'balance the rights of the citizens at large on one hand and the interest of the environment on the other hand' due to the efforts made by the CEC. The SC recognised that a large number of Zudpi lands in Nagpur city alone had public utilities such as the High Court building, defence buildings, state secretariat, graveyards, etc. It said citizens residing on these lands for years, or farmers could not be deprived of their residence or livelihood. Therefore, the Supreme Court held that Zudpi jungle lands would be treated as forests, but made exceptions for lands allotted for non-forest use before December 12, 1996. For such lands, where classification (purpose) hadn't changed, the state would be required to obtain the Centre's approval under Section 2 of the FCA for their deletion from the list of forest areas. The court said the Centre shall consider proposals without imposing compensatory afforestation conditions, and should not seek deposition of Net Present Value (NPV) levies. The court directed the Centre and the state to consult and finalise a proposal format within three months with prior approval of the CEC. For post-December 12, 1996 allotments of Zudpi lands, the Centre shall process proposals only after ascertaining reasons and ensuring action against the officers who took allotment decisions in violation of the SC's directions. Special Task Forces in each district will remove encroachments made after October 25, 1980, within two years. All commercial allotments post-October 25, 1989, are to be treated as encroachments. The court clarified no land may be diverted to non-government entities after scrutiny. The Revenue Department must transfer remaining Zudpi lands to the Forest Department within a year, which are to be used for compensatory afforestation. Other Zudpi lands will not be allowed for compensatory afforestation unless certified by the Chief Secretary. Benefitting the state's development plans The verdict has in some ways paved the way for infrastructure and other development works that the state government plans to undertake on certain tracts of lands, after obtaining approval from the central government. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis welcomed the ruling, calling it a boost to Vidarbha's stalled development. The CEC will monitor the transfer of forest land, as directed by the SC. States and Union Territories have been directed to reclaim possession of such lands from occupiers and hand them over to the Forest Department. The SC had said that if reclaiming possession is not in the public interest, the state/UTs shall recover land costs from occupiers and use them to develop forests.
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Panel to control Ranthambore crowd
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has formed a three-member committee, headed by the Sariska Collector, to propose solutions to the issues of crowded gatherings and vehicular traffic within the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. The court passed the order in a suo motu case pertaining to TN Godavarman Thirumulpad versus the Centre and an application filed by petitioner Sanjay Kumar. A three-judge bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai, Augustine George Masih, and A S Chandurkar, on May 30, observed, 'The committee shall give a hearing also to the representative of the Trust and arrive at a solution in a phased manner so that the interest of the Tiger Reserve, as well as the concerns of the devotees, are given due consideration.' It also directed the State of Rajasthan to immediately ban any illegal mining activities occurring within the core area of the reserve. The bench was hearing an application seeking a slew of directions to improve the Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH)/core zone of the tiger reserve. 'In order to protect the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, we also deem it appropriate to direct the State of Rajasthan to take steps to ban mining in the core area of the Tiger Reserve,' the court order read.
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)
