Forest Act, 1927 – Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 – Reserved forest – Zudpi Jungle – Status of Zudpi Jungle/Zudpi Forest in the districts of Eastern Vidarbha Region-Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli of State of Maharashtra – State of Maharashtra’s case that though these lands recorded in the revenue records as Zudpi Forest lands, however, these lands are not forest lands and for the past several decades have been put to various non-forestry purpose like residential, agricultural, government offices, public schools, primary health centres – In the present writ petition this Court vide order dated 12.12.1996 stated that the Zudpi Lands would also be treated as Forest Lands for the purpose of the 1980 Act – Thereafter, recommendations by the High Powered Committee that 92,115 Ha. of Zudpi Jungle, found to be suitable for forestry management, development and conservation, to be notified as reserved forest, and 86,409 Ha. Zudpi Jungle land, not suitable for forest management, to be denotified and be allowed for any non-forestry purpose – Subsequently, upon recommendation of Forest Advisory Committee, MoEF&CC granted approval for diversion of certain area – Thereafter, recommendation by FAC that Net Present Value-NPV not to be collected from State for diversion where Zudpi Jungle land has been put to non-forestry use before 12.12.1996 – State then filed IA for clarification that the directions of Supreme Court dated 12.12.1996 not applicable in respect of certain area of Zudpi lands being unfit for Forestry Management – Pursuant thereto, the Court sought report by the Central Empowered Committee-CEC – Recommendations in the 2025 CEC Report, to be accepted or not: Held: Recommendations made by the CEC to be accepted, else would have a devastating effect – Lakhs of people residing on the said lands for a number of decades would be dishoused and huge government buildings, offices existing on the said lands for decades will also have to be demolished as also the facilities in use by the Defence Ministry, Air Force, and the Agricultural Universities – Thus, the Zudpi Jungle lands to be considered as Forest lands in line with the order of Supreme Court – Zudpi Jungle lands allotted by the competent authority up to 12.12.1996 where land classification has not been changed, the State to seek approval for their deletion from the “List of Forest Areas” – State to submit a consolidated proposal for each district, and Union of India to approve the same without imposing any condition for compensatory afforestation or depositing NPV levies – Union Government and the State to devise a format for the proposal of diversion of Zudpi Jungle land for non-forestry activities within the stipulated period – For proposal regarding the allotments of Zudpi Jungle lands made post 12.12.1996, the State to give reasons for making such allotments with the list of officers who had made allotments in violation of the order of this Court, and ensure that punitive action is taken against such officers – State to declare all the unallotted “fragmented land parcels” as “Protected Forests”, and when required for non-forestry purposes by the State Government, the proposal to be submitted and said land not to be diverted to any non-governmental entity for any purpose – State to issue directions to Sub-Divisional Magistrates to ensure that no land parcel is encroached upon – Special Task Force to be constituted in each district to remove encroachments within the stipulated period – Allotments for commercial purpose post 25.10.1980 to be treated at par with encroachments – Revenue Department of the State to hand over the possession of the remaining area to the Forest Department, and said land to be utilized only for the purpose of compensatory afforestation, only with the certificate of the Chief Secretary regarding the non-availability of non-forest land for afforestation, and compensatory afforestation must be carried out on double the area of Zudpi Jungle land as per the existing guidelines – Special Investigation Teams to be constituted to examine the Forest Land allotted to any private individuals/institutions for any purpose other than the forestry purpose, and thereafter, to take back the possession of the land from them and hand over the same to the Forest Department – In case, taking back the possession, not in the larger public interest, the State Governments/Union Territories to recover the cost of the said land from the persons in occupation thereof and use the said amount for the development of forests. [Paras 68, 138] Words and phrases – Meaning of the term ‘Zudpi’: Held: ‘Zudpi’ is a Marathi word which literally means Bushes/Shrubs – Zudpi lands means inferior type of unoccupied lands with bushy growth – These lands consist of very low Murmadi soil (arid soil with gravel and soft stones) where tree growth was not possible – These lands had very poor potential of vegetative growth since the soil strata did not support root systems of trees – Such Murmadi soil supported mostly bushes and shrubs only – Zudpi was what forest was not – These lands were traditionally grazing lands and called as Gairan/Gurcharan/E-Class land as per Maharashtra Land Revenue Code 1966 – Central Province Grazing and Nistar Act, 1948. [Paras 11, 14]
Constitution of India – Arts.38, 39 – Social and Economic Justice – Use of term “strive” in Art.38 – Discussed. [Paras 73-78] Constitution of India – Directive Principles of the State PolicyDPSP and Fundamental Rights – Inter-relationship between: Held: Both the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of the State Policy are equally important and that there is no conflict amongst them – They are complementary to each other, and that they together are the conscience of the Constitution – Widest possible interpretation given by Supreme Court with regard to importance of Directive Principles while upholding various enactments and steps taken by the Legislature or the Executive for bringing social and economic justice. [Paras 84, 94] Constitutional of India – Art. 21 – Right to shelter – Meaning. [Paras 104-108]
Constitutional of India – Fundamental right – Right to livelihood – Sustainable Development, as a balancing concept – Explanation:
Held: Vast chunks of land have been utilized either for residential purposes or for agricultural purposes by the landless persons to whom the lands were allotted in order to earn their livelihood – Vast chunks of land have been utilized for providing public utilities and for the purposes of defence services including the Army and the Air Force – Citizens who are residing in the houses built on these lands for decades together cannot be permitted to be dishoused – Agriculturists allotted lands for their livelihood in order to give effect to the promise of social and economic equality to the citizens cannot be deprived of their livelihood at this stage – Citizens cannot be deprived of public amenities which are essential for living in their day-to-day life in a dignified manner – Balance between environmental protection and the need for sustainable development to be considered. [Paras 115, 117]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain Bed of Nag River Nagpur Municipal Corp Bed of Nag River Main Road Grave Yard/ Cemetery Religious Stracture Residential Area Road. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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