STATE OF KERALA Vs. VAIDYANATHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The State of Kerala and the Conservator and Custodian of Ecologically Fragile Lands are in appeal, questioning the Final Order of the 'Court of the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Tribunal', Palakkad, (hereinafter referred to as 'the Tribunal' for short), in Original Application No.8/2014.

(2.) Through the impugned order, the learned Tribunal has allowed the Original Application filed by the respondents herein, thus declaring that the application schedule property - extending to 11.018 hectares comprised of in Resurvey No.791/2, 795, 797/2, 793/D2, d7, 793/3 and 797/9 in Pudussery Village - is not an 'Ecologically Fragile Land'.

(3.) The genesis of the application made by the respondents is in Ext.B2 letter received by them from the Office of the Divisional Forest Officer, Palakkad (DFO), dtd. 20/6/2008, informing them that the application schedule property is an 'Ecologically Fragile Land' (EFL) and hence, vested with the Government. They, thereupon, filed the above said Application, seeking a declaration, as has now been allowed, on the ground, inter alia, that the property in question is a 'Forest', manifest by the fact that it was, in the 1970's, proceeded against under the provisions of the Kerala Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971, which culiminated in Ext.A2 order of the learned Forest Tribunal, Palakkad - issued common in four Original Applications, namely, O.A.524/1976, 525/1976, 534/1976 and 535/1976 - declaring it to be exempted, finding that it does not concede to any of the characteristics of a 'Private Forest'.