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PETITIONER: T.N. GODAVARMAN THIRUMULPAD,ENVIRONMENT AWARENESS FORUM

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: UNION OF INDIA & ORS., STATE OF J & K & ORS.

DATE OF JUDGMENT:       15/04/1998

BENCH: A.S. ANAND, B.N. KIRPAL

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT:                   WITH W.P. (C) No. 171/96                THE 15TH DAY OF JANUARY, 1998 Present:                  Hon’ble the Chief Justice                  Hon’ble Mr. Justice A.S. Anand                  Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.N. Kirpal Mr. Ashok  Desai,  Attorney  General,  Mr.  A.K.Goel,  Addl, Advocate, General  Mr. Harish N.Salve, Mr. N.N. Goswami, Mr. Rajiv Doawan,  Mr. Shanti Bhushan, Mr. Dipankar P.Gupta, Mr. H.Nabakumar Singh, Mr. Prashant K.Goswami, Mr. Anil B.Diwan, Mr. G.l.Sanghi, Mr. T.L.V.Iyer, Mr. Jayant Das, Mr. Tapas C. Roy., Mr.  P.K. Aggarwal, Sr. Advocates, Mr. U.U. Lalit, Ms. Meenakshi Sakharande, Mr. A.D.N.Rao, Mr. P. Parmeswaran, Mr. S.Wasim A.  Qadri, Mr. Sushma Suri, Mr. U.Hazarika, Mr. S.R. Hedge, Mr.  Saikia, Mr.  A.S. Bhasme, Mr. Zailre Angami, Mr. C.K. Sasi,  Mr. Kailash Vasdev, Mr. Gopal Singh, Mr. h. Wahi Mr. S.  Hazarika, Ms.Nelithono Rhetso, Mr, K.H. Nobin Singh, Ms.S. Janani,  Mr. Ranjan  Mukherjee, Mr.  Rajiv Mehta,  Mr. Anil Agarwalla,  Mr. P.C.Sharma,  Mr. Gujarmal,  Mr.  K.M.K. Nair, Mr.  M.L. Lahoty,  Mr. Himanshu  Shekhar, Mrs.  Madhur Dadlani, Mr.  S.K.  Agnihotri,  Mr.  Aruneshwar  Gupta,  Mr. G.Prakash,  Ms.Beena  Prakash,  Mr.  R.K.  Mehta,  Mr.  B.S. Chahar,  Mr.  Ashok  Mathur,  Mr.  Jasbir  Malik,  Mr.  P.P. Malhotra, Mr. K.R.Nagaraja, Mr. K.K.Tyagi, Ms. A.Subhashini, Mr. R.B.  Mishra, Mr.  Kamlendra Mishra,  Mr.H.K. Puri,  Mr. Ujjwal Banerjee,  Mr. K.B.Rohtagi.  Ms. Aparna Rohtagi Jain, Mr. S.M.  Jadhav, Mr.  D.M. Nergolkar,  Mr. R.S.  Sodhi, Mr. B.B. Singh,  Mr. G.M.Kawoosa, Mr. A. Mariarputham, Ms. Aruna Mathur,  Mr.  Rana  Mukherjee,  Ms.  Sumita  Mukherjee,  Mr. Goodwill Indeevar,  Mr. Maheer  Vyas, Mr.  P.K. Nanohar, Mr. D.N. Misra  , Mr.Parag  P. Tripathi, Mr. Vijay Panjwani, Mr. D.N. Goburdhan,  Ms.  Pinky  Anand,  Mr.  M.N.  Shroff,  Ms. Shabnam Lone, Ms Purnima Bhat, Mr. R. Sasiprabhu, Mr. Manish Garg, Mr.  Anees Ahmad,  Mr. P.H. Parekh, Mr. Sameer Parekh, Mr. Zafar Shah, Ms. Rekha Palli, Ms. Indu Malhotra, Mr. S.K. Bhattacharya, Mr.  S.K. Dhingra, Mr.Ashok K. Srivastava, Mr. Umesh Bhagwat,  Mr. Sanjay  R.Hegde, Advocates with them for the appearing parties.                          O R D E R      The following order of the Court was delivered:

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                         W I T H              WRIT PETITION (C) NOT. 171 OF 1996      Learned Attorney General submits that the perception of the Ministry of Environment and Forests is as under:      1. It  has been  estimated by  the HPC  that about 1.20 lakhs  cubic  meters  of  illicitly  felled  seized  timber, belonging to  the State  Governments is lying in the forests and depots  for varying periods of time between 1 to 2 years and is  thereby getting  degraded on  account of  decay  and rotting of  the wood.  It is  necessary to dispose it off at the earliest  to minimise  any further  loss in the monetary value. There  is,  in  addition,  considerable  quantity  of timber claimed  by the private industry and local people. In view of  the approaching  monsoon season (April 98) all such timber needs to be disposed off with urgency to save further loss in quality, as also in value, albeit with proper checks and balances.      2. Given  the weak  infrastructure in the North-Eastern region, it  does not  seem feasible  to transport  such huge quantities of  timber for  auction in  markets  outside  the region in a short time. Moreover, there would be uncertainty of the  response in  timber markets far away from the source of timber  which has been subject to elements of degradation in varying  degrees. There  is also  the likelihood of local resentment, in  an otherwise  sensitive area,  if  all  such material is  removed from  the region without processing and value addition,  which could  be conceived  as  creating  an adverse effect on the region’s economy.      3.  Even   though  the   proliferation  of   wood-based industries has been the main cause of degradation of forests in the  North-Eastern  States,  considering  the  extent  of forests (64% of the geographical area) and the dependence of the local people on the forest resources in the region it is neither feasible,  nor desirable,  to ban  completely either the timer  trade or  running of  the wood  based industries. However, their  numbers and  capacities need to be regulated qua the  sustainable availability of forest produce and they are also  required to  be relocated  in specified industrial zones. Moreover,  the industrial  requirements  have  to  be subordinated to  the maintenance  of environment and ecology as well as bonafide local needs.      4. There  shall be  no fresh  fellings in  the  forests belonging to  the Government, District and Regional Councils till the  disposal of  their existing  stocks of  legal  and illegal timber.      5. In  view of  the multidimensional  issues  impinging upon forest protection, foolproof institutional arrangements need to  be put  in place,  and made  functional  under  the strict  supervision   of  the   North-East  Council   (NEC). Technical  backstopping  in  the  forestry  matter  will  be provided by  MoEF by opening a separate cell in the Ministry under an officer of the rank of CCF and starting a satellite office of the Forest Survey of India at Shillong.      We appreciate  the perception  of MoEF  as reflected by the learned Attorney General.      We have  heard the  amicus curiae, the learned Attorney General and  learned counsel  for North-Eastern  States.  In view of  the report  of the  High Power Committee and taking into account  the factors  which require an order to be made by the Court for disposal of the felled timber and ancillary matters which  are lying  in the  North-Eastern  States,  we consider it appropriated to make the following order:-      1. Disposal  o timber  shall commence  only  after  the concerned Principal Chief Conservator of Forests irrevocably certifies that  inventorisation of  all felled timber in the

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State has been completed.      2.  As   a  first   measure  all  inventorised  timber, including seized  timber lying  in  the  forests  should  be immediately transported to specified forest depots.      3. All illegal/illicit timber found in possession of an offender or  abandoned in the forest shall be confiscated to the State Government and shall be disposed off in accordance with the  procedure to be adopted for disposal of Government timber.      4. Out  of the  seized timber,  logs found suitable for manufacture of  veneer and plywood shall be processed by the State Governments  within their  own factories and by hiring such  facilities.  The  finished  product  can  be  marketed freely.      5. The  remaining timber  belonging to  Government  and District  Councils  shall  be  first  offered  for  sale  to Government Departments  for their  bonafide official use and the rest  shall be  sold in public auction or through sealed tenders after fixing floor price by an Expert Committee with representative from  the MOEF.  Private timber  owners whose stocks have  been cleared  by HPC  shall have  the option of selling the  timber either  in the auctions organised by the State Forest  Departments/Forest Development Corporations or directly.      6.  The   State  Governments   shall  formally   notify industrial estates  for locating  the wood  based industrial units in  consultation with  the Ministry of Environment and Forests.      7. Timber  as per  inventory  cleared  by  HPC  may  be allowed to      (a) be  converted/utilised if  the  unit  is    located within the  notified industrial estate. As the relocation in proposed industrial  estates may  take some  time,  existing units with only legal stocks may convert this timber, as one time exception,  notwithstanding anything  contained in para 12 hereunder,  till such  stocks last subject to the maximum period as  per  the  norms  prescribed  by  the  High  Power Committee (vide their III report) or six months whichever is less. Any stock remaining thereafter shall vest in the state Government. However,  fresh trees/Timber will be allotted to these units  only when  they start  functioning  within  the designated  industrial   estates.  The   territorial  Deputy Conservator of  Forests/Divisional Forest  Officer shall  be responsible for  ensuring that  such units process the legal stocks only  and will  closely monitor  the various  transit permits  (inward   and  outward)   and  maintenance  of  the prescribed records.  All such records shall be countersigned (with date)  by an  officer not  less than  the rank  of  an Assistant Conservator of Forests.      (b) allowed to be sold to other units which are located in these  industrial estates  subject to  the condition that such  transactions   are   routed   through   an   authority notified/constituted by  the Principal  Chief Conservator of Forests.      (c) The  state Governments  shall  ensure  disposal  of illegal timber  before permitting the conversion/disposal of legal/authorised  timber   available  with  the  wood  based industries.      8. Transportation of auctioned timber (as well as legal timber) including sawn timber outside the North-Eastern Region shall  only be done through railways under the strict supervision of  the Forest  Department.  The  Railway  Board shall give  Priority for  Providing  rakes/wagons  for  such transportation.      9.  Modalities   for  transportation  of  timber/timber

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products and  alternative modes  in case  of difficulties in transportation by  Railways, will be worked out by the State Governments in  concurrence of  the Ministry  of Environment and Forests.      10. Existing  inventorised stock  of timber originating from plantations  in private  and community  holdings in the States of  Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and Nagaland may be  disposed of by their owners under the relevant State laws and  rules. In  States where such laws and rules do not exist, the necessary laws and rules may be framed within six months. Pricing of Timber      11.   The   state   Governments   shall   ensure   that timber/forest produce  is supplied  to industries  including Government Undertakings,  at full  market rate. The existing royalty  shall   be  reviewed  and  revised  upwardly  by  a committee constituted  under the  Chairmanship of  Principal Chief Conservator  or Forests  with representatives from the concerned   Departments    and   shall    also   include   a representative of  ministry of  Environment and  forest. The prices of  timber for which royalty has not been realized in full shall  also be  reviewed  by  this  committee  and  the concerned   industry shall  be required   to pay the revised price  or  the  royalty  (including  surcharge,  fee  etc.,) whichever is higher after deducting the part royalty already paid. Licensing      12. Licenses  given to all wood based  industries shall stand suspended.      13. Wood  based industries  which have  been cleared by the High  Power Committee without any penalty shall have the option  to  shift  to  industrial  estates  which  shall  be identified by the states within 45 days and developed within six months thereafter.      14. Units  which have  been penalised because they were found to  exceed normal  recovery norms, but were within 15% of the  said norms,  will have  a right to approach the High Power Committee  on or  before 9th  February 1998.  The High Power Committee  shall examine  all  relevant  material,  in particular  the  income  tax  and  excise  records  for  the preceeding three  years.  The  High  Power  Committee  shall dispose of  all such  applications within 45 days thereafter and such  mills may  be granted  licence if  the High  Power Committee finds that it is not against public interest so to do.      15. nits  which have  not furnished details/information to the  High Power  Committee so  far or which have not been cleared by  the High  Power Committee,  shall not be granted any licence  and the stock in their custody if any, shall be confiscated to the state Government. In case of leased mills belonging   to   corporations/trusts/cooperative   societies owned/controlled/managed by  the State  Government and where the lessees have been penalised by the High Power Committee, the leases  shall stand  revoked. Such mills shall, however, be eligible  for relicensing  subject to  the condition that these mills  are not leased out in future except to a entity fully owned by the Government.      16. Units  who do  not want  to shift to the designated industrial estates shall be allowed to wind up as per law.      17. Henceforth,  licenses of  units  shall  be  renewed annually only  in  those  cases  where  no  irregularity  is detected.      18. There  shall be  a complete moratorium on the issue of new  licenses by  the  State  Governments  or  any  other authority for  the  establishment  of  any  new  wood  based

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industry for  the next  five years after which the situation shall be  reviewed  with  the  concurrence  of  Ministry  of Environment and Forests.      19. Number of wood based industries shall be determined strictly within  the quantity  of timber which can be felled annually on  sustainable basis as determined by the approved working plans  from time  to time . If t is found that units after relocation  in industrial  estate have excess capacity then their  capacities shall  be reduced  pro rate to remain within the sustainable levels. Forest Protection      20. An  action plan  shall be prepared by the Principal Chief  Conservator   of  Forests/Chief  Forest  Officer  for intensive patrolling and other necessary protective measures to  be   undertaken  in   identified  vulnerable  areas  and quarterly  report   shall  be   submitted  to   the  Central Government for approval. The approved plan together with the modifications, if any, shall be acted upon.      21. To  ensure protection  of  the  forest  wealth  the forest officers in the North Eastern States may be empowered with authority  to investigate,  prosecute and confiscate on the lines  of the powers conferred on the forest officers in many other States in the country.      22. The  State  Government  shall  be  responsible  for providing all facilities including security and police force to strictly  enforce  forest  protection  measures  to  stop illicit felling, removal and utilisation of such timber. The Chief Secretary  shall review the various matters concerning forest protection and development in his State at least once every six  months with  senior forest officers upto the rank of Conservator  of Forests.  Regional Chief  Conservator  of Forests of MoEF shall be invited to all such meetings. Scientific Management of Forest      23.Working Plans  for  all  forest  division  shall  be prepared by  the Sate  Governments and got approved from the Government of  India. Forest  working shall  be carried  out strictly in  accordance with  the approved  prescriptions of the working  plans. The  working plans  should  be  prepared within a  period of  two years.  During the  interregnum the forests shall  be worked  according  to  an  annual  felling programme approved  by the  MoEF which shall be incorporated in the concerned working plan. In case a working plan is not prepared within this time frame, future fellings will remain suspended till  the regular working plan is prepared and got approved.      24.  The  forests  under  the  District,  Regional  and Village Councils  shall be worked in accordance with working schemes  which   shall  specify   both  the   programme  for regeneration and  harvesting and  whose period  shall not be less than 5 years.      25. The  maximum permissible  annual yield  in  the  ad interim measures  suggested  above,  shall  not  exceed  the annual  harvestable   yield  determined   by   Ministry   of Environment and  Forests. The  plantation schemes  raised on private and  community holdings shall be excluded from these requirements but  shall be  regulated under respective State rules and regulations.      26. The  States shall  identify ecologically  sensitive areas in  consultation with  leading institutions  like  the India Council  of Forestry  Research and Education, Wildlife Institute of  India, North  Eastern Hill  University,  North Eastern  Regional   Institute  of  Science  and  Technology, leading NGOs.  etc., and  ensure that such areas are totally excluded from  any kind  of exploitation. The minimum extent of such  areas shall  be 10% of the total forest area in the

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State. Action against officials      27. The  State Government shall identify within 45 days all  those   forest  divisions   where  significant  illegal fellings have taken place and initiate disciplinary/criminal proceedings  against  those  found  responsible.  The  first action taken  report (ATR) in this regard shall be submitted to the Central Government within three months which shall be followed by quarterly reports (QRs.) till the culmination of the matter. General      28.  Timber   extraction  in  forests  irrespective  of ownership, except  in private  plantations, shall be carried out by  a State  agency only.  The States  shall endeavor to adopt pattern  obtaining in the State of Himachal Pradesh as described in para 2.5.3 of the Rajamani committee Report.      If there  be any  local laws/customs  relating  to  the forest in  any State.  the concerned  State  Government  may apply to  this Court  for the  needed modification,  if any, with alternative proposal.      29. The  penalties levied  on the wood based industries as ordered  by the High Power Committee shall constitute the revolving fund  to meet  the expenses involved in collection and transportation  of seized  illegal timber.  These can be augmented by  utilising the  funds generated  by the initial sales of  illegal timber  already available  in  the  forest depots.      30. Each  State shall  constitute a  State level Expert Committee for  matters concerning the preparation of working plans,  their   implementation,  development  of  industrial estates, shifting  of industrial  units  to  these  estates, rules and  regulations regarding  the grant  and renewal  of licenses to wood based industry and other ancillary matters, under the  chairmanship of  principal Chief  Conservator  of forests and  with a  nominee of  Ministry of Environment and forests  as  one  of  its  members.  Any  decision  of  this committee which  is not  acceptable to  the State Government shall be referred to the Central Government.      31. The  existing permit  system in  Arunachal  Pradesh shall stand  abolished. The  State  Government  may  provide financial assistance  in case  or kind in the form of timber only for  the bonafide  use of the local tribals alone. Such concessional timber  shall not  be bartered or sold. Felling of trees  for such  purpose shall  be carried  out  only  by Government agency.      32. The  total sale  proceeds from  the sale  of seized timber, as well as timber products manufactured and disposed by the State Government (vide para 4) and penalties would be credited to the State Revenues. Out of this, the State shall utilise one  half of  the amount  for as  assistance to  the tribals. population  and as  assistance to  the tribals. The remaining  one  half  of  the  total  sale  proceeds,  after deduction of  the expenses  therefrom, would go to the State coffers for other developmental activities in the State.      33. The  States shall  ensure that sufficient budgetary provisions are made for the preservation of biodiversity and protection of wildlife.      34.  To  ensure  that  timber/forest  produce  smuggled across the  border may  not be  used as a cover for trade in illegal timber,  it is  directed that all such timber seized by Customs/Border  security Force  should not be redeemed in favour of  individuals who  are smuggling  it but  should be confiscated and  handed over  to the  concerned State Forest Department  along   with  offenders,   vehicles,  tools  and implements for prosecution under the relevant acts.

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    35. For  the proper  and  effective  implementation  of these order,  Ministry of  Environment and Forests will have the liberty  to issue  suitable directions  consistent  with this order.      36.  Action   taken  report  be  filed  by  each  State Government and the Ministry of Environment and Forests every two months.      37. Liberty  to apply for modification/clarification in case of need.      (NOTE: In  this order the term "State Government" would include District  council also  except   where  the  context implies otherwise.)