SC puts on hold drive against encroachers in Assam forests

NEW DELHI: Acknowledging that encroachment upon forest land is one of the gravest challenges confronting environmental governance in the country, Supreme Court on Monday said that protection of environment and action agai-nst encroachers must happen through lawful means and a govt cannot resort to arbitrary action. It put on hold an anti-encroachment drive in reserved forests in Assam.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said the Constitution did not envisage a choice between environmental protection and rule of law; rather, it insisted that they co-exist and reinforce each other. The bench held that the alleged encroachers should be given a chance to submit relevant documents to substantiate their claim over the land, and action should be taken only if the allegations were proved.

The bench agreed with Assam govt’s suggestion to set up a committee to examine the documents. “If an unauthorised occupation is found in a reserved forest area, after scrutiny of documents, a speaking order shall be passed and shall be served... giving him 15 days’ notice to vacate unauthorised occupation. Only after expiry of the period of notice shall action be taken to remove unauthorised occupants,” SC said.

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