In a significant interim ruling on Monday, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice asked the Centre to go back to the definition of ‘forest’ as given in its landmark 1996 judgement. The Godavarman judgement of 1996 had expanded the scope for green cover conservation by using the dictionary definition of 'forest'—in short, what would constitute a forest to the naked eye. Last year, the government amended the Forest Conservation Act to narrow the definition to only those that had already been recorded as forests.
In an interim judgment on November 30, the ‘forest bench’ of the Supreme Court headed by Justice B R Gavai directed that such a definition be on hold till all states and Union territories had demarcated their forest areas on the advice of expert committees.
Because that process was subject to the usual bureaucratic delays, petitioners red-flagged the danger of forests being diverted to other uses before the final order. At stake was about 1.99 lakh sq km of forest land. Monday’s court order, which is yet to be published, thwarts that danger.
Though it is claimed that a full legal definition of forest is missing, Section 2(d) of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 states, "Forest land means land of any description falling within any forest area and includes unclassified forests, undemarcated forests, existing or deemed forests, protected forests, reserved forests, sanctuaries and national parks”.
This was in sync with the Godavarman ruling: the idea was to expand the definition, not constrict it. States had been asked to prepare expert committee reports mapping the extent of their forest cover within months of the 1996 ruling. Like all noble endeavours, this is still work in progress. The Centre now has till November this year.
The confusion exists partly because though forests are governed by states, some of them, especially in the northeastern states, are owned by local communities through autonomous district councils, too. In some states, forests are under the revenue department.
The Centre has assured the court it will take into account all such demarcated lands. The future of India’s depleting forests would depend on how these words are kept. And, of course, on the final judgement in the case.