KHALIL ULLAH Vs. STATE OF J&K AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The facts as these emerge from the study of the petition of the petitioner are that the Jammu and Kashmir Government has been inviting and alluring the people from and outside the State of J & K to establish the industrial Units in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and to achieve this object, the State hasfrom time to time provided various incentives to these Units. The petitioner in tune and in line with this phenomenon applied for and was registered as a Katha Manufacturing Unit in the State under the name and style of "M/s Jammu Industry". The State of J & K, issued SRO111 dated 31. 03. 2016 for the disposal and utilization of Khair trees standing on the State and the private lands and this SRO has the effect of meddling into the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court passed in a Public Interest Litigation dealing with the wood based industry which included the Khair wood also. In the Public Interest Litigation aforesaid, the Supreme Court directed that the State shall constitute a Committee to take a decision for the grant of license/permission to wood based industries on the basis of the availability of the raw material.

(2.) The petitioner is also aggrieved of the Minutes of the Meeting held by the State Level Committee on 17. 07. 2017, whereby it has been resolved that the installed capacity of khair manufacturing units registered in the State is only 10,000 Cum while as the actual availability is 20,970 Cum. It is submitted that the SLC (State Level Committee) has wrongly by misleading themselves stated that the installed capacity of Khair manufacturing units registered in the State is only 10,000 Cum. The actual availability is 20,970 Cum and the logic behind making this statement is to give vent to the nefarious designs of the concerned officers to pave way for allowing the export of Khair wood/timber, which if allowed, will be violative of the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court as also the order issued by the Ministry of Forests, Environment and Climate Change. On the succinct expose of facts detailed above the petitioner has craved the indulgence of this Court in granting him the following reliefs:

(3.) In their reply, the answering respondent-Chief Conservator of Forests has submitted that the J & K Forest Department is not providing any incentives for establishing Katha Manufacturing Units in Jammu province which are wood based industries in terms of SRO 103 of 2012. It is further pleaded that the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 12. 12. 1996 imposed a ban on the felling of the trees in the Forests of J & K and also for exporting of timber except DGS supply through State Forest Corporation. It is pertinent to mention here that the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 29. 0. 1998 imposed a ban on felling of Khair trees form the private lands/non-forestry land as well in the State of J & K. The Hon'ble Supreme Court modified its earlier order vide order dated 16. 09. 2013 by which the felling of khair trees on the private lands/non-forestry lands has been allowed subject to the condition stipulated in the recommendation of the Central Empowered Committee. Accordingly Rules for management of khair trees on private lands and non-forestry land have been framed. These have been duly vetted by the Central Empowered Committee and approved by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. The said rules were notified by the State of J & K through Revenue Department vide SRO-111 of 2016. Since the Katha Manufacturing units fall within the definition of the wood based industry, therefore, SRO 103 of 2012 applies to them. In order to have the checks and balances all wood based units falling under primary as well as secondary category are to be registered with the Forest Department for the issuance of the licence only. There is no promise made by the Forest Department or by the Government of J & K to the petitioner or any other wood based industry that the raw materials (khair wood) will be supplied to the petitioner or any other such unit holders by the Government or by any other Government Agency. However, as per the survey conducted by the Himalayan Forest Research Institute Shimla 20,900 cubic meters of khairwood form private lands and non-Forestry lands in the State of J & K are available annually and the management of felling has been made accordingly as per SRO 111 of 2016. It is further pleaded that SRO-194 dated 0 08. 1995 has been superseded vide SRO-111 of 2016 issued as per the directions of the Central Empowered Committee and the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. It is further pleaded that the assessment of khair wood on the private land was made in 1994-95. Accordingly SRO-194 of 1995 was issued for management and felling of the khair trees from the private lands. The said survey report was placed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India as well as the Central Empowered Committee. The report was discarded and the Central Empowered Committee directed the State of J & K to conduct fresh survey of the availability of the khair wood on private lands/non-forestry lands. The survey has been conducted by an independent agency called "Himalayan Forest Research Institute" in the year 2012. The Said survey report was conducted by the said agency using modern technology and error-less assessment of the availability of khair wood on private and non-forestry land was prepared and the report was placed before the Central Empowered Committee and the Hon'ble Supreme Court accordingly. Therefore, the assessment made in the year 1995 does not hold good as of now.