GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court on Monday, February 3, restrained the central and state governments from taking any steps that would result in the reduction of forest land across the country, unless compensatory land is being provided for afforestation.
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A bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and K. Vinod Chandran passed the order while hearing a batch of writ petitions challenging the 2023 amendments to the Forest Conservation Act (FCA). In its ruling, the court directed, "Until further orders, no steps will be taken by the Union or any of the states which would lead to reduction in the forest land, unless compensatory land is provided either by the State or the Union for the purposes of forestation."
The case traces back to an interim order from February 2024, where the court directed all states and union territories to adhere to the definition of "forest" established in the landmark 1996 T.N. Godavarman Thirumalpad v. Union of India judgment. The Union was instructed to collect comprehensive data on forest land from states, digitise it, and publish it on the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change’s (MoEF) website by April 15, 2024.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate P.C. Sen, representing retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officials, expressed concern over forest land being cleared for compensatory afforestation, effectively reducing overall forest cover.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing another applicant, challenged MoEF rules allowing such practices and sought interim protection until all states identified forest areas as per the court’s earlier orders.
In response, Justice Gavai questioned the Centre’s counsel, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, about the usage of forest land for compensatory afforestation.
Bhati acknowledged partial compliance from states and requested time to submit a status report.
