CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has upheld the Keonjhar divisional forest officer (DFO’s) decision to revoke Jindal Steel Limited’s working permission over 51.99 hectares of diverted forest land in the Roida-I Iron and Manganese Mine area.
The judgment was delivered on November 29 and uploaded on December 3 by Justice SK Panigrahi, on Jindal Steel Limited’s writ petition challenging the withdrawal of its working permission on October 19 this year.
Jindal Steel Limited, represented by senior advocates Ashok Parija and Gopal Jain, had argued that the DFO lacked authority under section 27 of the Odisha Forest Act, 1972, to revoke the permission. The company maintained that it was merely using an existing access route through the Siddhamatha Reserve Forest, a pathway utilised by earlier lessees with official approval.
Countering this, Kasturi Oram, a former sarpanch of Bhadrasahi panchayat, intervened in the case and contended through advocate Lalitendu Mishra that the DFO acted within the law to prevent further ecological damage caused by ore-laden trucks moving through reserve forest land without requisite clearances.
Justice Panigrahi found no infirmity in the DFO’s action. “The DFO’s withdrawal reveals no element of arbitrariness, malice, or disproportionality. On the contrary, the action reflects adherence to statutory duty and environmental prudence,” the judgment stated.
Holding that forest land access could only be permitted with approval from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the court noted that Jindal Steel Limited had already initiated correspondence with the DFO, who had forwarded the company’s proposal to the additional principal chief conservator of forests-cum-nodal officer.
The court granted the Jindal Steel Limited liberty to seek the necessary forest clearances and re-apply for working permission thereafter. “Upon securing such approval, the petitioner may apply afresh for restoration of working permission, which the authorities herein shall consider on its own merits expeditiously,” the judge concluded, disposing of the petition.