The Supreme Court has recently served notice in a Writ Petition filed by retired civil servants, including former MOEF officials and state Forest Chiefs, challenging the 2023 Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act on constitutional grounds.
In response to the plea, the Bench of Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Aravind Kumar, and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra ordered the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change to respond within six weeks. They also allowed for Dasti service and granted the petitioner the liberty to serve notice on the Central Agency using additional methods.
The Petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate Prashanto Chandra Sen, along with Advocates Kaushik Choudhury and Shibani Ghosh.
The Writ Petition primarily challenges the 2023 Amendment Act to the Forest (Conservation) Act, contending that it attempts to circumvent the significant Supreme Court judgment in the TN Godavarman case (1997 2 SCC 267), which established the definition of "forest" as per the court's ruling.
The Writ Petition further argues that the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act of 2023 poses a significant threat to the environmental and ecological well-being of the country. If not nullified promptly, it is believed to have the potential to cause irreversible harm to India's forests and wildlife, with severe consequences for human welfare.
The Petitioners argue that the amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act of 2023 represent a clear failure to fulfill the State's duty to safeguard and enhance the environment. They contend that removing legal protections from extensive forest land and allowing various activities on the grounds that they don't qualify as non-forest use will, in fact, lead to widespread environmental deterioration rather than preventing it.
The Petition also emphasizes that the 2023 Amendment Act impermissibly delegates legislative functions to the government. It argues that the discretion given to the Central Government under the law is excessively broad, lacking adequate guidance for the exercise of this discretion.
The Writ Petition also contends that the 2023 Amendment Act, while exempting specific forest lands from the Forest Conservation Act and excluding numerous activities from the scope of non-forest purposes, grants the Central Government unrestricted authority to determine the associated terms and conditions through orders, guidelines, and directives.
TAGS: Writ Petition Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023 Dereliction of duty State's duty Legal protection.
