It was dealing with petitions challenging the amendments to the Forest Conservation Act of 2023.
New Delhi:
Any new proposal to open a zoo or start ‘safari’ on forest land will now need the approval of the Supreme Court, which on Monday issued a series of directions for forest conservation across the country.
The top court took note of the plea that the definition of forest under the amended 2023 law on conservation excludes about 1.99 lakh sq km of forest land from the ambit of ‘forest’ which can be used for other purposes.
Dealing with a batch of petitions challenging the amendments to the Forest Conservation Act of 2023, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra asked state governments and Union Territories to provide details of forest land within their jurisdiction. Instructed to provide. Center till March 31 this year.
The top court said the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change will put up on its website all the details on “forest like areas, unclassified forest lands and community forest lands” provided by states and Union Territories by April 15.
“No zoo/safari in forest land shall be notified without prior approval… Any proposal for establishment of zoo/safari referred to in the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 in forest areas other than protected areas owned by the Government or any authority “Will not be given.” Ultimately, it was approved without the prior permission of this court,” it said.
In its interim order, the bench asked states and Union territories to act as per the definition of “forest” laid down by the apex court in its 1996 judgment in the case of TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India.
It said the process of identifying land recorded as forest in government records is going on as per the amended law.
The petitioners have alleged that the broad definition of “forest” in the Supreme Court judgment has been narrowed under Section 1A inserted in the amended law. According to the amended law, to qualify as “forest” the land must either be notified as forest or specifically recorded as forest in government records.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, said the amendments were passed in the judgment to take forward the Supreme Court’s directions.
On March 27, 2023, the Center introduced the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill.
The petitions challenge the constitutionality of the amended law and want it to be declared invalid.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
