Maharashtra moves SC to regularise Zudpi jungle encroachments; contradicts expert report, own laws

NEw new delhi, The Maharashtra regime has asked the sublime margaret court to occupy nearly 86,409 hectares of Zudpi jungle land in Vidarbha out of the ambit of the Forest Act, 1980, and to regularise encroachments without penalties or compensatory measures. This demand runs contrary to the recommendations of the SC-mandated Central Empowered Committee and the state's own legal framework, government records show. Zudpi jungles, the name derived from the Marathi word for bushes and shrubs, are scrublands recorded as forest in government revenue records in eastern Vidarbha districts of Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. Historically, these lands were classified as inferior terrain with poor "Murmadi" soil that cannot support dense tree growth. They have long been used as grazing grounds for cattle, cremation sites, threshing areas and locations for schools, health centres and other village infrastructure. Despite their degraded nature, Zudpi jungles have ecological significance. They act as transitional ecosystems between forests and agricultural lands, support grass cover and shrubs for grazing, provide fuelwood and fodder to rural communities and serve as habitats for small wildlife and birds. The Supreme Court, in its landmark December 1996 T N Godavarman judgment, held that any land recorded as forest in government records, regardless of its quality or ownership, would fall under the Forest Act. This brought Zudpi jungles under the ambit of strict forest conservation laws. "Though these lands have been recorded in the revenue records as Zudpi Forest lands, taking into consideration the historical perspective, it is clear that these lands are not forest lands and that for the past several decades these lands have been put to various non-forestry purpose like residential, agricultural, government offices, public schools, primary health centres etc," the Maharashtra government affidavit filed earlier this month says. The state has urged the court to declare that the "86409 hectares of Zudpi land, unfit for Forestry Management, do not come under the purview of Forest Act, 1980 and also do not attract the provisions of orders of December 12, 1996". It argued that non-acceptance of its plea would cause hardship to a large population. "If the prayers sought by the state are not granted, it will cause grave and irreparable damage to lakhs of citizens residing in these six districts of the Eastern Vidarbha Region," it said, adding government schools, hospitals and even defence establishments would face demolition if Zudpi jungles continue to be governed as forests. The CEC submitted a report to the top court in February, saying the "Zudpi Jungle lands shall be considered as forest lands for all purposes" and the Forest Act, 1980 is applicable to them. It recommended that allotments made before December 12, 1996, could be deleted from forest records with central approval, but only "as an exception and without treating it as a precedent". It also said that "all unallotted fragmented land parcels shall be declared as Protected Forests" and "any government order issued by the Government of Maharashtra regarding the regularisation of encroachments shall not be applicable to Zudpi Jungle lands". The CEC report recommended that encroachments and allotments made after October 25, 1980, must be removed, and post-1996 commercial allotments treated as illegal. It also recommended task forces to oversee the eviction of encroachments and the completion of pending forest settlement proceedings. Maharashtra's plea is at odds not only with the CEC's stand but also with its own Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, which requires the collector to remove encroachments and permits regularisation only after charging up to five times the market value of the land, along with assessment and only after a public notice. Successive governments have consistently linked regularisation with payment. A 2002 resolution of the Revenue and Forest Department allowed pre-1995 slum encroachments outside Mumbai to be regularised, with slum dwellers paying market price plus penalty, non-slum residential users charged 2.5 times market price and commercial encroachers five times. A February 2018 Rural Development Department resolution permitted regularisation of rural residential encroachments up to January 1, 2011, with fees linked to the Annual Value Rate Table and penalties for delay. A November 2018 resolution of the Urban Development Department allowed regularisation of urban encroachments up to January 1, 2011, capped at 1,500 square feet, subject to graded fees and exemptions for SCs, STs, and OBCs. Originally, 9,23,913 hectares of land in Vidarbha were recorded as Zudpi jungles. Of this, 6,55,619 hectares were notified as reserved or protected forests between 1955 and 1959. The present case concerns the remaining 86,409 hectares, which the state describes as "unsuitable for forestry management" but which the CEC has insisted must remain governed under forest law. "It is a well-settled law that Zudpi jungles are to be treated as forest land, and any non-forest use must follow the laws. If the state government continued to allocate these lands for non-forest purposes despite this clear legal position, it amounts to non-compliance and violation of laws, especially Van Adhiniyam 1980," Debadityo Sinha, the Lead of Climate and Ecosystems at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, said. He said even if such violations remained unaddressed for decades, the state cannot now take shelter under the passage of time to justify them. "It is entirely the state's duty to provide lawful alternatives and reallocate land for public purposes, and also to ensure adequate compensation where required." "Seeking blanket exemption from SC directions not only undermines its role as public trustee of forests but risks setting a very bad precedent for regularising illegalities by other states. The need is to fix accountability for past violations, address them lawfully, and improve the legal protection of forests," Sinha said. 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