‘Deemed forest’ land in Jaipur village allegedly sold in breach of SC orders

Jaipur: Nearly 150 bigha of deemed forest land in Padasoli village in Bassi tehsil of Jaipur district has allegedly been sold through land registries in violation of Supreme Court directives and the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980.The land is recorded under "Beed" and "Banjar Beed" categories, treated as forest under the FCA, which restricts such land to plantation and conservation and bars sale, transfer or diversion for non-forest use.RTI activist Rajendra Tiwari alleged the transactions were carried out without mandatory clearance. "Even if the land is privately held, it cannot be sold without Forest Conservation Act clearance. These transactions were carried out without forest department permission, in breach of the FCA, 1980, and the Supreme Court's order dated July 3, 2018. The registries of Khasras 306, 307/2, 45, 310, 311, 276 and 277 are recorded as Beed and Banjar Beed," he said.Tiwari also alleged lax enforcement. "In a similar case, the forest department submitted an affidavit in the National Green Tribunal stating that FCA clearance is mandatory before any transaction. Yet, in Padasoli, such procedural safeguards were apparently ignored," he said.Speaking to TOI, Tehsildar Pranjal Kanwar said, "The land title was khatedari, and the registry was carried out accordingly. After the complaint came to our notice, we are examining the matter."Jaipur DFO Ketan Kumar, however, pointed to the absence of formal notification. "The Kapoor Committee recommended that these deemed forest lands be classified under the specified categories. However, no such classification has been recorded in Jaipur district, leaving the area effectively at zero hectares. Until the deemed forest is formally notified, it cannot be taken into consideration," he said.Experts cited the Kapoor Committee, set up under Supreme Court directions, which identified deemed forests as areas with more than 200 trees per hectare in compact blocks of five hectares or more. The Central Empowered Committee, which reviewed the report, said lands recorded as ‘Gair Mumkin Pahar', ‘Gair Mumkin Rada', ‘Gair Mumkin Behed', ‘Banjad', ‘Beed' and ‘Rundh' — local names for different types of land — must be treated as forest, following which recommendation was approved by the Apex court in 2018 "The onus is on the forest department to identify these lands for conservation. However, this exercise is not being carried out," said green lawyer Vaibhav Pancholy. He added , "Diversion or sale of these lands for non-forest purposes constitutes a clear violation of the Forest Conservation Act and Supreme Court orders, including the landmark TN Godavarman case, and may even amount to contempt of court,"A senior forest official, requesting anonymity, said, "These lands should be safeguarded by the state govt through a dedicated mechanism to prevent illegal diversion and uphold environmental norms. In recent times, several such lands have been diverted for non-forest purposes, directly contravening the apex court's directives and threatening ecological balance."