E-Paper
If areas under PLPA are considered forest, lakhs will be affected: Haryana to SC
The Haryana government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that if areas notified under the provisions of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900 are to be considered as forests, almost 40% area of the state is covered under this and lakhs of citizens will be affected
The Haryana government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that if areas notified under the provisions of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900 are to be considered as forests, almost 40% area of the state is covered under this and lakhs of citizens will be affected.
The state government told a bench headed by justice A M Khanwilkar that none of the land notified under Section 4 and/or 5 of the PLPA have been recorded as forests in the land revenue records.
The top court is hearing a matter which involved issues regarding forest and non-forest land in Haryana. Additional solicitor general KM Nataraj, appearing for Haryana, told the bench that the matter involves interpretation of the provisions of the PLPA and affects lakhs of citizens of the state.
“Here the situation is, by virtue of this PLP Act, entire area is sought to be declared as forest area or forest land. And 40% of the land, in this particular state, is covered under this Act,” he told the bench, also comprising justices AS Oka and CT Ravikumar.
Nataraj referred to the affidavit filed by the state in the matter last year.
The affidavit, while referring to the September 2018 judgment and two orders passed by the apex court, said in terms of the verdict, all areas notified under Section 3, 4 and/or 5 of the PLPA are forest land, including where the validity period of the notification has expired.
“Accordingly, 39.35% of the geographical area of Haryana being notified under the provisions of the PLP Act is required to be considered as forest and every structure constructed after issuance of the notification for the first time is required to be considered as illegal and are required to be demolished,” the affidavit said.
It said the land notified under the provisions of the PLPA include both government and private lands and structures that have come up on these lands include school, colleges, hospitals, defence establishments and others.
“It is submitted that merely because the forest department exercised certain degree of regulatory control over the said land due to the administrative exigencies, the same will not automatically clothe the status of such land as forest in any statutory enactment or through judicial mandamus,” the affidavit said.
It said that authentic records of any land, its ownership and use are maintained only by the revenue department of the state.
During the hearing, the bench observed that the apex court has always been referring to the government record and forest indicated in it must be preserved.
The hearing in the matter would continue on Thursday.
The apex court had on Tuesday observed that environment “must prevail” over other rights and forests must be preserved.
The bench is hearing pleas which raised the issue regarding forest and non-forest land in reference to interplay between provisions of the PLPA 1900, the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the land which forms part of development plan under the Faridabad Complex (Regulation and Development) Act, 1971.
Haryana had last year filed an affidavit in the apex court, which had earlier asked it to clearly state about the factual basis as to how the area has been first notified as forest area, be it under the Union enactment or the state enactment, as the case may be, and also related matters which can be taken into account for answering the controversy in issue.
