KUTTAN GOPALAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) As both these writ petitions involve a common issue, they are taken up for consideration together and disposed by this common judgment. For the sake of convenience, the reference to facts and exhibits is from W.P. (C).No.24438/2018.

(2.) The petitioners are members of the Mannan Community, which is a Scheduled Tribe Community in the State of Kerala. It is their case that about 218 families, belonging to both the Muthuvan and Mannan Communities [both Scheduled Tribe Communities in the State of Kerala], were occupying an area in the Malayattoor Division of the reserved forest, commonly referred to as the "Warriam Settlement Area". It is stated that the said Settlement area comprises of approximately 938 acres of reserved forest, and on account of increasing conflict with wild animals, continued living in the said forest area, where they had been residing through various generations, became impossible for the Tribal Community. The members of the Settlement therefore approached the Government, voicing their concerns and the State Government assured them that, on surrender of the 938 acres where they were settled, they would be rehabilitated at Pooyamkutty and Kandanpara, as is evident from Ext.P1 Government Order dated 1.2.2014. The place identified for their re-settlement comprises an extent of 523 acres [209.20 hectares] of teak plantation near Urulanthanny in Malayattoor Forest Division itself. Ext.P1 G.O. also indicates that the Government had, after examining the case of the forest dwellers, decided to forward the proposal for their re-settlement to the Central Ministry of Environment and Forests, inter alia, for exemption from the requirement of paying the Net Present Value and bearing the cost of Compensatory Afforestation in lieu of diversion of the aforesaid 523 acres of forest land for the rehabilitation of the traditional forest dwellers.

(3.) It is the case of the petitioners that, pursuant to Ext.P1 order, 66 families left their forest habitat in the Warriam Settlement area and shifted to Kandanpara. The Re-settlement Plan, however, did not fructify on account of a stalemate resulting from the inaction of the Central Government in granting the necessary permission for re-settlement. This led to W.P.(C).No.6824/2010 being filed before this court on behalf of the forest dwellers, which was disposed by Ext.P2 judgment dated 20.6.2014. In the said judgment, a learned Single Judge took note of the submissions put forward by the Kerala State Legal Services Authority to find that, as per the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 [hereinafter referred to as the "2006 Act"], forest rights were to be conferred on the forest dwellers, free of the requirement of paying the Net Present Value and cost of Compensatory afforestation. It was, in particular, noted that the area where the Tribals were to be rehabilitated was a teak-elavu plantation, and inasmuch as these plantations were being maintained as such for a large number of years, they could not be treated as pukka forest land. It was also noted that there was no loss of forest land as the Tribals were surrendering close to 939 acres of thick forest land as part of the re-settlement exercise. The learned Judge opined therefore that, since the area surrendered by the Tribals was forest area, there was no need for any compensatory afforestation. The learned Judge thereafter examined the rehabilitation package, and found that apart from the 2 acres of land allocated to each Tribal family in recognition of their forest rights, 87 acres of land had been set apart for infrastructure development, and that the re-settlement proposals in the instant case were not against the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, in that, the area where the Tribal people were to be re-settled was not a pukka forest but a teak-elavu plantation, which was recognised in the working plan approved by the Central Government. The writ petition was accordingly disposed with the following directions: