High Court allows govt to sell crops on encroached land

Vijay Arora

Shimla, July 27

In a partial relief to the state, the HP High Court today permitted the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary (Forests) to sell crops on the encroached forest land. The money earned from its sale should be used for plantation of trees and its preservation.

It further directed them to ensure that no person sow seeds of any crop on the encroached forest land for the coming season, if any crop grew on its own that be destroyed.

It further directed them to carry out pruning of apple trees on the encroached forest land after plucking the apples in order to minimise the apple crop in the coming season. The court directed the state authorities to ensure that immediately after removing the crops, a plantation drive was made so that no land remained vacant and no person could sow seeds or plant apple trees. It also directed that fence the entire land by barbed wires and ensure that no encroachment was made in future.

It directed to furnish details of those persons who had made encroachment on the forest land by planting apple trees, by sowing any crop or by any other method, and whether any action had been taken against them so far and what was the outcome.

It further cautioned the officers that any deviation shall be seriously viewed and the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary (Forests) and the Director General of Police would be personally responsible for any violation.

The court passed this order on an application filed by the state government for seeking modification in the order passed by the court wherein it had ordered to remove all encroachments from forest land. The state had sought modification to the extent that “the encroached land along with all standing crops and plants existing over it shall be taken over by the Forest Department for its further management and properly fenced with barbed wire at the cost of encroachers. The amount so generated by the department shall be spent in carrying afforestation over such lands in a phased manner in which the standing fruit-bearing crops like apple, pears, etc after culmination of their lifespan shall be replaced gradually with native plants of wild origin”.

While passing this order a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice of HP High Court Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan observed that “that it appears that the officials of the state have remained in deep slumber for a pretty long time and have shut their eyes allowing the encroachers to plant apple trees, which have now become fruit growing trees/orchards, is suggestive of the fact that those encroachers would have cut down the forest trees from the encroached forest land, made that land vacant and thereafter, would have made plantation.”

It further said that “It is also not known as to whether any action has been taken by the state authorities against all those encroachers and whether any action has been taken against all those officers/officials who were in position from time to time.”