MAHESH RAI Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Reference may be made to the previous orders passed in this Public Interest Litigation, particularly the orders dtd. 28/11/2017, 15/1/2018 and 14/3/2018. On 15/5/2018 learned A.S.G.I stated on written instruction contained in letter dtd. 7/5/2018 bearing no. 11/35/2017-ESZ, Government of India, MoEF &CC, ESZ Division that 7 representations were received from public / stake holders in respect of the draft notification for declaration of Eco Sensitive Zone(ESZ) of the protected areas of Parasnath and Topchanchi Wildlife Sanctuary; 6 representations received in respect of Hazaribag Wildlife Sanctuary and 3 representations received in respect of Koderma Wildlife Sanctuary. The State Government had been requested to give their view on the above representations latest by 10/5/2018 so that the Ministry may be able to consider the Jharkhand proposals in the next Eco Sensitive Zone Expert Committee meeting scheduled to be held on 25/6/2018. Though instructions were not furnished by that date to the Office of learned Advocate General but it was submitted on behalf of the State that the Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Government of Jharkhand would offer their comments on the representations to the MoEF &CC, Government of India, if not already done before the cut off date i.e., 10/6/2018. Learned A.S.G.I assured the Court that the cut off date in the stage towards finalization of the proposal and issuance of final notification of declaration of Eco Sensitive Zones shall definitely be adhered to. The matter was adjourned for 6 weeks. On 28/6/2018 learned A.S.G.I informed this Court that on the request of the State Government consideration on the draft notification for declaration of Eco Sensitive Zones by the Multi-Disciplinary Expert Committee had been deferred. On the basis of the affidavit filed on 26/6/2018 by the Respondent no. 2 to 4, it was conveyed that as per the directions of Hon'ble Chief (Forest) Minister, the Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change intends to review the determination of the Eco Sensitive Zones of all the National Parks/Wild Life Sanctuaries. The matter was adjourned on the request of learned counsel for the State to enable the learned Advocate General to assist the Court. When the matter was taken up on 5/7/2018, learned A.S.G.I made submission on instructions and based on templates and the guidelines prescribed for processing the Eco Sensitive Zone proposals by the MoEF&CC, Government of India. He submitted that the Expert Committee was scheduled to hold its meeting again in the month of July, 2018 on the deferred agenda of ESZ proposals, apart from other agenda on board. This Court took note of the order dtd. 28/11/2017, which records the stand of MoEF&CC, Government of India containing details of the stages through which the proposals for declaration of ESZ has to undergo. The stages were described in their affidavit dtd. 24/11/2017 with flow chart. This Court observed that the proposal had progressed through different stages and is presently at the penultimate stage "f" before the Expert Committee. The consideration of the ESZ proposals is to be made in accordance with law as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) / Templates and the guidelines prescribed by MoEF&CC, Government of India. The matter was however adjourned on the request of learned J.C to learned Advocate General to enable learned Advocate General to assist the Court on the next date. Thereafter when the matter was taken on 10/7/2018 learned Advocate General prayed for some time to deliberate on the issue. Thus the matter was adjourned for 26/7/2018.

(2.) The matter has been taken up today thereafter. In the meantime an affidavit has been filed by the Respondent no.2 on 30/7/2018. Para 5 thereof makes a mention of 8 proposals for declaration of ESZ of 1 National Park and 10 Wildlife Sanctuaries sent by the State Government to the MoEF&CC, GOI namely (i) Parasnath and Topchanchi Wildlife Sanctuary;(ii) Hazaribag Wildlife Sanctuary;(iii) Koderma Wildlife Sanctuary;(iv) Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuary;(v) Udhwa Lake Bird Sanctuary;(vi) Gautam Buddha Wildlife Sanctuary;(vii) Palkot Wildlife Sanctuary and (viii) Betla National Park, Palamau Wildlife Sanctuary and Mahuadanr Wolf Sanctuary. Para 6 makes a mention that draft notifications for declaration of ESZ of 11 protected areas of Jharkhand State were on the website of MoEF&CC, GOI. It further makes reference to the 30th Meeting of the Expert Committee dated 25/26/6/2018 for declaration of ESZ wherein these proposals were scheduled for consideration. It states that on the request of the State Government, the Expert Committee deferred and decided to consider these 8 proposals in the next meeting.

(3.) Learned Advocate General has placed the statements made thereafter at para 8, 9 and 10 of the affidavit, which reads as under:-