Forestland regularization: Telangana HC issues notice, asks government to adhere to ROFR act

Telangana: Telangana High Court has asked BRS government to adhere to ROFR Act while regularizing Podu lands in the state. A division bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N.

Tukaramji issued a notice to the government directing it to furnish reasons for regularising 11.5 lakh hectares of Forestland. Chief Secretary, Special Chief Secretary, Environment, Forest, Science and Technology Dept., Principal Secretary, Tribal Welfare Dept., Commissioner of Tribal Welfare, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, New Delhi and Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India, New Delhi, were asked to furnish their replies.

The court directed the BRS government to adhere to the Recognition of Forest Rights (ROFR) Act 2006 and rules made thereunder especially rule 13 while regularizing the lands. The court was adjudicating a petition filed by Forum for Good Governance (NGO) represented by its Secretary M. Padmanabha Reddy. He had sought a stay on the memo issued by the Principal Secretary of Tribal Welfare, through which the BRS government has taken a decision to regularise 11.5 lakh hectares of forest land in favor of the occupants.

Satyam Reddy, Senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, informed the court that the BRS government is going ahead with indiscriminate regularisation of the Forest lands, without adhering to the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006.

The court allowed the Interim Application filed by. Chikkudu Prabhakar, Advocate, seeking impleadment of Schedule Tribe and other dwellers represented by Kabbaka Shravan Kumar, General Secretary, Tudum Debba Warangal District. The matter has been adjourned till June 22.