SOMAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are the first and the second accused in the case registered as O.R.No.3/2019 of the Mankulam Forest Range Office.

(2.) The offences alleged against the petitioners are under Sections 27(1)(a), 27(1)(e)(i) and 27(1)(e)(iv) of the Kerala Forest Act, 1961.

(3.) The prosecution case is as follows: On 26.06.2019, when the Section Forest Officer conducted inspection of the Kallar Section of the reserve forest with forest officials, he found the bamboo and the undergrowth there being cut and destroyed from an area of half acres of forest. Then they heard sound from the nearby place and when they reached there, they saw accused 3 to 7 cutting and destroying the bamboo and the undergrowth there. The statements of the aforesaid persons revealed that they were employed by the first and the second accused to do the work.