Sanj ay Hari v. Conservat or of For est and anot her

Judgment

( p e r H o n ’ b l e Ju s t i ce Sr i M a n o j K u m a r Ti w a r i )

1. This int ra- court appeal filed by t he writ pet it ioner against dism issal of his writ pet it ion vide j udgm ent dat ed 20.09.2017, rendered in Writ Pet it ion ( M/ S) No. 1553 of 2009. Operat ive port ion of t he im pugned j udgm ent is reproduced below: - . “ 12. I t is irrelevant w het her t he pillar was on t he t he boundary of boundary of village Sudhowala. The fact of t he m at t er is t hat pet it ioner has encroached upon t he forest land, as per t he pillar exist ing on t he ground. t he Forest Depart m ent or on

13. Ther e is no m erit in t his pet it ion and t he sam e is her eby dism issed.”

2. Appellant filed Writ Pet it ion ( M/ S) No. 1553 of 2009, seeking following reliefs: - t he for quashing I ssue a writ , order or direct ion in t he nat ure of “ ( i) im pugned not ice dt . cert iorari 29/ 01/ 2009 ( Annexur e- 1 t o t he pet it ion) as well as im pugned or der s dt . 7 t h August , 2009 passed by t he respondent no. 2 ( Annex ur e- 4 t o t he pet it ion) and order dt . 04/ 09/ 2009 passed by t he respondent no. 1( Annexure- 9C t o t he pet it ion) . ( ii) m andam us com m anding I ssue a writ , order or direct ion in t he nat ure of t o t he respondent s not int erfere in t he peaceful possession of t he pet it ioner over t he propert y in quest ion.”

3. I t t ranspires t hat a Not ice dat ed 29.01.2007 under Sect ion 61- B( 1) of I ndian Forest Act was issued t o t he pet it ioner by Deput y Conservat or of Forest , calling upon him t o show cause as t o why order of evict ion be passed against him .

4. Appellant in his reply pleaded t hat t he land in quest ion falls wit hin lim it s of village Sudhowala, t herefore it is not a forest land.

5. Aft er considering appellant ’s reply, Divisional Forest Officer passed evict ion order against pet it ioner

on 07.08.2009. Appellant challenged t he evict ion order by filing an appeal which was dism issed by Conservat or of Forest vide order dat ed 04.09.2009. Thus feeling aggrieved, appellant filed t he writ pet it ion which has been dism issed by t he im pugned j udgm ent .

6. Learned Single Judge dism issed t he writ pet it ion by holding t hat in t he j oint survey carried out by t eam of officers, drawn from forest depart m ent and revenue depart m ent , it was found t hat 1015 sq. m t r. of forest land was encroached upon by t he appellant ; a forest offence report was regist ered against t he appellant under Sect ion 26 read wit h Sect ion 63 of I ndian Forest Act and t he I nvest igat ing Officer t ried t o record t he st at em ent of t he appellant but he did not cooperat e; t he forest pillars was found displaced and t he Divisional Forest Officer passed t he evict ion order by t aking int o account t he j oint survey report dat ed 28.01.2009; t he evict ion not ice was issued by Divisional Forest Officer/ Deput y Conservat or of Forest and not by Assist ant Conservat or of Forest as alleged in t he writ pet it ion; appellant had dem olished t he boundary wall and Range Case No. 18/ Jhaj hra/ 08- 09 was filed against him which was lat er on com pounded.

7. We do not find any scope for int erference wit h t he im pugned j udgm ent . I t is not in disput e t hat evict ion order was passed aft er giving reasonable opport unit y of hearing t o t he appellant . There was no defect in t he not ice and it was issued by t he Com pet ent Aut horit y. Before t he writ court , appellant had relied upon a survey report from a privat e surveyor which was right ly not considered as in t he j oint survey m ade by forest and revenue officers, appellant was found t o have encroached upon reserved forest land.

8. Whet her t he land in quest ion is in a revenue village or in a reserved forest , cannot be decided in a writ pet it ion. There is no docum ent regarding t it le over t he land in quest ion available wit h t he appellant .

9. I n such view of t he m at t er, t he Special Appeal fails and is dism issed. _______________________________ M A N OJ K UM A R TI W A RI , J. _______________________________ VI VEK BH A RTI SH A RM A , J. Dt : 09.06.2025 Mahinder MAHINDER SINGH DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=da6212e6e78d94ed3134842bc6a8d6ca168979ca7b8c2f031a92d1a18b08923c, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=AB77B7C5B240908B392BE84F5CDD4C2AF35DC4626D305B1BC9EA4BABA43D2B8F, cn=MAHINDER SINGH