Karnataka High Court notice to governments on plea questioning GO pausing eviction of encroachers on forest lands

The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday ordered the issue of notice to the Centre and State governments on a PIL petition challenging the 2015 Government Order (GO) issued by the State directing its authorities not to evict encroachers occupying forest land measuring less than three acres until further notice and proposing rehabilitation of encroachers.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C.M. Poonacha passed the order on the petition filed by Jagadeesha, a city-based social worker.

Under Act

The petitioner has pointed out that the Central government government in 1996 granted approval under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, for diversion of 14,848.83 hectares of forest land for the limited purpose of regularising encroachments made prior to April 27, 1978, in respect of 19,348 cases in Karnataka subject to many conditions. The said permission required removal of all encroachments made after April 27, 1978.

However, the encroachments in Karnataka continued and the State government, instead of taking steps to remove encroachments, issued GO on September 21, 2015, directing the authorities not to evict those encroaching below three acres of forest land till scheme for their rehabilitation is evolved.

The GO of 2015, the petitioner has claimed, has not only allowed continued occupation of encroached forest lands but has also resulted in a large-scale misuse as many encroaching larger areas have artificially divided larger extent of encroached forest land among family members to show individual holdings below three acres.

No action

Even after passage of GO 10 years, the State government neither rehabilitated those encroaching less less up to three acres of forest land nor taken steps to evict those encroaching exceeding three acres, the petitioner has said while contending that the GO is contrary to law as it was issued without prior approval from the Central government and contrary to apex court judgements in T.N. Godavarman’s case.

The petitioner, citing official data, has claimed that forest land encroachment in the State surged from 42,518 acres in 1995 to 1,65,796 acres by 2014 and by late 2015, that figure had reportedly climbed further to 2,04,442 acres.