BIHAR PLAWOOD MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Whether movement of Veneer within the State of Bihar or outside the State requires transit permit under the Forest Laws iS the question for consideration in this writ petition. A Division Bench of this Court in the case of Woodman Industries v. State of Bihar , 2000 (1) Pat LJR 275 : (2000 Cri LJ 1075) has already answered the question in the affirmative holding that Veneer is fashioned wood and therefore timber and forest produce within the meaning of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. However, when the writ petition came up for hearing before a learned single Judge, accepting the submission of the counsel for the petitioners and the intervenor respondents the learned Judge referred the case to Division Bench for reconsideration of the said decision and that is how the case came up for hearing before this Bench.

(2.) The case of the petitioners, briefly, is as follows. Petitioner No. 1 is an association of plywood manufacturers in the State of Bihar while other petitioners are doing manufacturing business in plywood etc. For manufacturing plywood etc.. They require veneer. Veneer is manufactured from logs. The logs are taken to the mill where they are sectioned in sizes according to requirements. After removing barks the naked pieces are fitted in the peeling machine and by mechanical process (which is not necessary to describe) thin layers of timber are taken out. These thin layers are further cut into piece in sizes according to requirements which is known as Veneer. It is a finished product brought into existence by human labour and a mechanical process. It is a distinct commodity having distinct name and character. As a result of the aforesaid manufacturing process it ceases to be a produce of nature i.e. forest produce. It therefore cannot be called timber or wood . The petitioners being manufacturers of plywood, transport veneer under mill chalan to their factories either within the State of Bihar or outside the State. Before being taken out of the factory excise duty is paid on the manufacture of veneer. Further case of the petitioners is that no rule or regulation has been framed by the State Government nor there is any enactment authorising the officers of the Forest Department to interfere with the manufacture/transport of veneer from one place to another. However without any authority of law they insist on obtaining of transit permit for taking veneer from one place to other either within the State or outside the State on the plea that veneer is a forest produce and as such the Department is competent to issue transit permit without which it cannot be moved from one place to another.

(3.) The case of the State is that Veneer is a forest produce within the meaning of Section 2(4} and (6) of the Indian Forest Act read with Rule 2(Kha) of the Bihar Kasth Tatha Anya Van Utpadan Abhivahan Ka Niyamawali, 1973 i.e. Bihar Timber and Other Forest Produce Transit Regulation Rules (hereinafter referred to as the Transit Rules). It also falls under the definition of wood in Section 2(K) of the Bihar Saw Mills (Regulation) Act, 1990. Veneer is made from logs. It is not the final product. It is only fashioned wood peeled form of logs like beams etc. used as raw material for making plywood etc. obtained from trees in forest. It is actually thin layer of timber brought into existence by peeling machine from logs. Section 41 of the Indian Forest Act authorities the State Government to frame rules to regulate transit of forest produce and accordingly Transit Rules have been framed in the State of Bihar under which the forest officials are obliged to check vehicles and demand transit permit non compliance whereof is a non cognizable offence for which the person concerned may be arrested. Further, in terms of the order of the Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 202/95 no saw mill, plywood and Veneer industry is supposed to run without registration with the Forest Department and for this reason too the officials of the Forest Department are obliged to check and seize the vehicle to find out whether the consignee is registered with the Department or not.