The Supreme Court on Thursday declared Zudpi Jungle land in Maharashtra as forest land and all encroachments on the land should be removed immediately. The land, thus, comes under the Forest Conservation Act 1980. The Apex Court cancelled the Maharashtra Government’s decision to convert the land. The court said that land cannot be converted without the prior approval of the Central Government.
The judgement delivered a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice A G Masih held that the Zudpi Jungle land allotments made before December 12, 1996, when the T N Godavarman judgement (1996) extended the applicability of the FC Act’s scope, will be regularized without compensatory afforestation or NPV payments, as they predate the settled legal position. However, post-1996 allotments will face strict scrutiny, requiring the Central Government’s approval, compliance with forest laws, and possible action against officials responsible for illegal allotments.
Thus, 86,409 hectares of Zudpi Jungle in the Vidarbha region have been declared Forest land.
The Court has stated that the encroachments before 1980 may be regularised if legally permissible. All post-1980 commercial encroachments must be cleared within two years by a Special Task Force. The remaining 7.76 lakh hectares of Zudpi Jungle lands be handed over to the Forest Department for afforestation, cementing the government’s responsibility toward environment restoration.
👉 Click here to read the latest Gujarat news on TheLiveAhmedabad.com