Guwahati: The Supreme Court has issued a stay order, preventing the central and state governments from reducing forest areas.
While hearing a batch of petitions concerning amendments to the 2023 forest conservation law. a bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K. Vinod Chandran on Monday stated the court would not allow any action that diminishes forest cover.
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“We will not permit anything which leads to reduction of forest area. We further order that until further orders, no steps will be taken by the Union of India and any state which will lead to reduction of forest land unless compensatory land is provided by the Centre and the states…,” the bench said.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the central government, committed to filing a response to the applications within three weeks and submitting a status report before the next hearing, scheduled for March 4. The court noted that pleadings were complete and the petitions specifically address the 2023 amendments.
Last February, the Supreme Court acknowledged concerns that the 2023 amendments’ definition of “forest” excluded approximately 199,000 square kilometers of forest land, potentially opening it up for other uses.
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The court also mandated that any new zoo or safari proposals on forest land require Supreme Court approval.
The court further directed states and union territories to submit details of forest land within their jurisdictions to the central government by March 31, 2024, with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to publish this information online by April 15th.
The court’s interim order also stipulates that establishing zoos and safaris in forest areas outside of protected zones requires prior permission from the Supreme Court.
States and union territories were instructed to adhere to the definition of “forest” established in the 1996 T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad case.
Petitioners argue that the amended law’s Section 1A narrows the previously broad definition of “forest,” requiring land to be either officially notified or specifically recorded as a forest to qualify.
The central government maintains that the amendments align with previous Supreme Court directives. The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill was introduced on March 27, 2023, and these petitions challenge its constitutionality, seeking its nullification.