STATE OF KERALA Vs. M N SANKARA NARAYANAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) We have heard learned counsel on both sides.

(3.) The case has a chequered history which needs no elaboration. Suffice it to state that under the Madras Private Forests Preservation Act, private forests were preserved. The Legislature of the Kerala passed Kerala Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) Act 26 of 1971 (for short, the Vesting Act) which came into force w.e.f. May 10, 1971. The respondent claimed 3,000 acres to be not a private forest. The tribunal declared that entire 3,000 acres were not a private forest. When an appeal came to be filed by the appellant, the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court in M. F.A. No. 152/1977 by judgment dated September 19, 1980 had accepted the report submitted by three Commissioners, namely two advocates, P. C. Chacko and N. Nandkumara Menon and John M. John, Assistant Director, Cardamom Board.