'Can't Shut Our Eyes': P&H High Court Halts Construction, Land Transfers In 16 Villages Near Chandigarh Pending Forest Land Demarcation

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has restrained all construction and development activity in sixteen villages in the Shivalik foothills near Chandigarh, including Karoran, Nada and Siswan and directed the State of Punjab to complete the demarcation of forest land in the area within six weeks, more than a decade after the Supreme Court first directed such an exercise to be carried out.Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor said, "The area in question, i.e., Village Karoran, District Ropar (now District Mohali), is situated in the foothills of the Shivalik Hills and is an environmentally fragile area. Its preservation is of utmost importance for the protection of the environment and ecology. The manner in which such an area is being allowed to be commercialized, without effective steps being taken for the preservation of the forests, not only violates the mandate of the PLP Act, 1900 but also reflects the failure on the part of the State to preserve the environment.""In such circumstances, this Court cannot shut its eyes to the grievances raised in the present cases," it added.The controversy traces back to a 2004 news report on a country club allegedly functioning in violation of forest law in Village Karoran, then in District Ropar (now Mohali), about 8 kilometres from Chandigarh.The Court had held in 2004 that the entire 3700-acre revenue estate of the village, notified and regulated under the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900 (PLPA) constituted "forest land" attracting the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and directed its restoration as such.That view was set aside by the Supreme Court in B.S. Sandhu v. Government of India, (2014) 12 SCC 172, which held that mere notification of an area under Section 3 of the PLPA does not automatically make it "forest land"; what mattered was whether the land was recorded as forest as on 25.10.1980 — the date the Forest (Conservation) Act came into force — irrespective of its ownership or classification. The Supreme Court remanded the matter for a fresh determination based on revenue records, while leaving undisturbed the direction for a CBI investigation.Pursuant to this, a Division Bench of the High Court in 2014, while disposing of a connected writ petition filed by the Gram Panchayat of Bari Karoran, recorded agreed terms directing the State Government to identify forest land strictly as per the parameters laid down in B.S. Sandhu, based on revenue records, and to communicate a reasoned decision to affected landowners.In the present bunch of petitions, the petitioners contended that despite the Supreme Court's directions dating back to 2014, the State had still not carried out the demarcation exercise. It was alleged that enforcement had been selective and discriminatory some restaurants had been shut down while large-scale commercial construction was permitted to continue elsewhere in the area and that certain senior State officials had themselves acquired prime farmland in the vicinity, one of the most sought-after locations for urban development near Chandigarh.The Court noted that although the State had filed some affidavits, including one from Forest Department officials, none of them reflected that the actual demarcation exercise directed by the Supreme Court had been undertaken.The Court observed that the area, being in the foothills of the Shivalik range, is environmentally fragile and that its preservation is critical, and that allowing unchecked commercialisation without completing the demarcation exercise not only violated the PLPA but reflected a failure of the State to protect the environment. Noting that revenue and other State records prima facie showed land in sixteen villages, Karoran, Nada, Parch, Sunk, Majrian, Choti Bari Nagal, Parol, Siswan, Pallanpur, Saini Majra, Dulwan, Burana, Gochar, Mirzapur, Tarapur and Sultanpur, as forest land whose demarcation remained undone, the Court:Restrained all construction and development activity in these villages until demarcation is completed;Directed the Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, to constitute within six weeks a dedicated team, headed by the Chief Conservator of Forests and including an officer not below the rank of Principal Secretary, to examine old revenue records and determine the extent of forest land as it existed on 25.10.1980, clarifying that mere inclusion of an area under the PLPA control regime would not by itself be treated as conclusive of its forest character;Barred any further transfer or alienation of land in these villages, by any mode including General/Power of Attorney, citing serious doubts about the credibility of revenue entries amid allegations that portions of forest land had been fraudulently shown as private land, with any violation to be treated as contempt;Directed that no further mutation entries be made in the revenue records of these villages for six weeks or until completion of the exercise;Directed that photocopies of the revenue...

'Can't Shut Our Eyes': P&H High Court Halts Construction, Land Transfers In 16 Villages Near Chandigarh Pending Forest Land Demarcation

Aiman J. Chishti

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Aiman J. Chishti

'Can't Shut Our Eyes': P&H High Court Halts Construction, Land Transfers In 16 Villages Near Chandigarh Pending Forest Land Demarcation

Aiman J. Chishti

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Aiman J. Chishti

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