B RAJAMMAL AMMAL Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE second petitioner in W. P. No. 8549 of 1989 is the appellant in this writ appeal. THE respondents in the said writ petition are the respondents in this writ appeal. For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred to in this judgment as per their nomenclature in the writ petition.

(2.) THE deceased first petitioner K. Balu Chettiar was the successful bidder in the auction for the sale of the right to do cardamom cultivation and was granted lease of forest lands measuring 16. 25 acres in pambar undeveloped Reserve forest of Bodinaickanur Range (Now Kodaikanal range), with effect from 5. 7. 1964 for a period of 25 years. THE said lease by efflux of time, came to an end on 4. 7. 1989. On 1. 2. 1989 the said Balu Chettiar submitted an application for renewal of the lease for a further term, treating the renewal as a fresh lease in terms of G. O. Ms. No. 1220, Forests and Fisheries department, dated 7. 11. 1979. THE second respondent by the order dated 16. 5. 1989, declined to renew the lease on the ground of subsequent government orders and the revised policy of the State Government and called upon the deceased Balu Chettiar to surrender possession of the forest land to the forest ranger concerned. THE first petitioner again pursued his claim by submitting his further application dated 23. 5. 1989 and inasmuch as the first petitioner was not successful in his attempt, he approached this Court by filing w. P. No. 8549 of 1989, projecting the following prayer: 'for the reasons stated in the accompanying affidavit the petitioner herein prays that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue a writ of certiorarified mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order of Direction in the nature of a writ, calling for the records relating to Na. Ka. No. 1664 of 1989 A-2, dated 16. 5. 1989 on the file of the second respondent herein and quash the said order and direct the respondents herein to treat Lease No. 131 of the petitioner herein in Pambar undeveloped reserve Forest originally Bodinaickanur Range now Kodaikanal Range of an extent of 16. 25 acres as fresh lease for a period of 15 years from 5. 7. 1989 and pass such further or other orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper and thus render justice.'

(3.) 11. 1979, thesaidg. O. Ms. No. 1220, dated 7. 11. 1979 has not been expressly or by implication repealed or substituted; the lease in favour of the deceased first petitioner is given protection by G. O. Ms. No. 1220, dated 7. 11. 1979, and as per the terms of G. O. Ms. No. 1220, the petitioners are entitled to have a fresh lease for a period of 15 years from 4. 7. 1989. The learned counsel for the petitioners further contended that the subsequent G. O. No. 779, dated 1. 7. 1988 would apply only to new leases and not to those which are already covered by g. O. Ms. No. 1220, dated 7. 11. 1979. 7. To appreciate the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner, it is necessary to refer to the relevant clause in g. O. Ms. No. 1220, Forests and Fisheries Department, dated 7. 11. 1979, relied on by the learned counsel for the petitioners which runs as follows: 'there may be cases where the lease is already in force according to earlier orders in excess of 15 years. In all such cases the lease will expire after the current period is over and thereafter it will be treated as a fresh lease subject to the present conditions, for a period of 15 years only and subject to the eligibility of the persons concerned.' It must be remembered that subsequently, the Government issued G. O. Ms. No. 779, Forests and Fisheries Department, dated 1. 7. 1988 on the subject of grant of lease of forest land for cultivation of cardamom, after reviewing the policy which was in force earlier. As pointed out just now, the government reviewed the policy which was in force before the issue of g. O,ms. No. 779, Forests and Fisheries Department, dated 1. 7. 1988 and on the basis of which the lease of forest land for cardamom cultivation to private persons was granted. The revision of the policy was necessitated because of the reasons stated in G. O. Ms. No. 779, Forests and Fisheries Department, dated 1. 7. 1988 in the following terms; 'excessive use of fertilizer application and pesticides pollutes the soil and the water, affecting the health of environment. Keeping the ground in a loose condition by removing all ground flora on the pretext of elimination of weed growth for promoting the growth of cardamom adversely affects the soil edaphic conditions peculiar to semi ever green and evergreen forests, with far-reaching consequences. Hence it is considered necessary to re-examine the whole issue from ecological angles of crop-ping system under the fragile mountainous evergreen climax forests and see whether the cardamom growers can be gradually persuaded to give up cardamom cultivation eventually. The question of optimising yield should not be aided at, since it goes against the basic tenets of maintaining this fragile ecosystem itself. Hence it has to be considered whether it should be supported as a scheme for boosting up cardamoms production by private growers at the expenses of the general well-being and health of the fragile eco-system, in the larger national interests and they constitute the watershed of rivers emanating from such tracts. While examining the proposal it has been considered that in view of the changed circumstances, no forest land may be leased out for cultivation of cardamom or any other crop in future in view of the policy laid down by the Forests Conservation Act, 1980, of the Government of India. The chief Conservator of Forests had been consulted in the matter and he has agreed to the above view.' In view of the reasons extracted above for changing its policy the Government in G. O. Ms. No. 779, Forests and Fisheries Department, dated 1. 7. 1988, directed that no forest land be leased for any cultivation purpose including cardamom cultivation.