SC refuses to denotify forest areas :Dismisses PIL Saying It Will Not Allow Haryana To Become A Desert

A day before Haryana auctions mining leases, many of which fall within the eco-sensitive Aravali zone, the Supreme Court sent a stern warning to the government: It will not tolerate any mining activity in the notified forest zones that would lead to desertification of the state.

With Hooda government planning to auction mining leases on Tuesday despite a status-quo ordered on mining activity in Aravali hill areas by SC, a PIL by NGO ‘Nyay Bhoomi’ attempted a virtual sacrilege by asking the apex court to reverse its 1992 order, by which it had declared a large chunk of land in Faridabad district as forest land, prohibiting mining and a host of non-forest activities.

What irked a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam was the repeated plea on behalf of the NGO that the 1992 order had deprived locals from enjoying the benefits of their right over their land and carry out legitimate non-forest activities. ‘‘There is no forest there and hence the apex court should not have declared it as forest’’ — this argument repeated many a times by the NGO set the ball rolling in the Chief Justice’s court. ‘‘If the relief sought by the PIL is granted, then all that is left of forests in Haryana will be destroyed. The Aravalis will be destroyed and the state would turn into a desert,’’ said the Chief Justice.

‘‘Once the forest is denotified, anyone can do anything and Aravali hills will face destruction. The entire area would be shorn of greenery and major parts of Harayana will turn into a desert,’’ said an anguished CJI.

Realising that it would not succeed in convincing the Bench to change its approach on protection of the fast depleting green cover, the NGO decided to withdraw its PIL. But even this general plea, made by most of the PIL petitioners when faced with opposition from the court, was sternly declined by the Bench which dismissed the petition. ‘‘If we allow withdrawal of this PIL, we are sure some other mine operator would come with the same plea again. We will not allow it to be withdrawn,’’ the Bench said.

Prior to the hearing on the PIL, an application filed on behalf of Som Sethi, a mining lease holder, was mentioned before the Bench by senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi seeking stay of Tuesday’s auction of mining leases.

Rohtagi said that as the Supreme Court was dealing with the matter, it would be prudent on the part of the Haryana government to suspend the auction and await the outcome of the hearing scheduled for March 18. However, the Bench said that it would deal with the matter then.

Recently, the SC had given relief to people who owned houses and commercial establishments in Aravali hill areas of Faridabad by assuring them that their properties, though located in the eco-fragile green zone, would not face demolition for the time being.

The house owners in Faridabad district were living in the constant fear of bulldozers razing their properties soon after it became public that the SC appointed central empowered committee (CEC) has recommending demolition of all encroachments into demarcated green zone.

A three-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice had said any action on the basis of CEC report, without hearing all parties and stake holders, would not be in accordance with the principles of natural justice. Having said so, it ordered status quo. This means while there would be no demolition, no one can carry out additional constructions. The same would apply to mining too.
Source:- The Times of India 3 March 2009 P.13 Delhi