Furnish bogus FRA claimants’ eviction data, SC tells 17 states

Nagpur: With Supreme Court turning its focus on encroachments on forest land under the garb of getting titles under Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, it has asked the Forest Survey of India (FSI) to conduct a satellite survey and place on record the ground realities.
After the enactment of FRA in 2006, as per the September 2018 statement of the ministry of tribal affairs (MoTA), a total of 42 lakh claims over forest lands including within national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves were filed by tribals.

An analysis of the data reveals that a total of 18,89,835 titles have been granted converting 72,23,132 lakh hectare (72,000sqkm) of forest land, almost the size of Assam state, into individual and community ownership in bits and pieces across the country.

Based on due process prescribed under the law with two levels of appeal, 19,34,345 claims stand rejected as on September 30, 2018, said MoTA. This includes 18,88,066 individual claims. While MoTA did not provide data on actual extent of forest land occupied by rejected claimants, the estimated area could be over 19 lakh hectare by applying the average area of an approved individual claim.

Hearing a PIL challenging FRA filed by Nature Conservation Society, Amravati (NCSA), Tiger Research And Conservation Trust (TRACT), Nagpur, and Wildlife First, Bengaluru, along with a bunch of three petitions (PILs), clubbed together, three-judge bench consisting of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Navin Sinha and Justice Indira Banerjee passed an order on February 13.

The NGOs have challenged the validity of the FRA as well as legislative competence of Parliament to enact the law. They submitted that discriminatory grant of ‘pattas’ is objectionable and steps must be taken to evict those persons. During the last hearing in March, all states were asked to submit affidavits on claims granted to schedules tribes and other tribal forest dwellers (OTFDs) under FRA.

While most of the states filed affidavits on claims granted and those rejected, they were shy of giving information on freeing of forest land from the clutches of bogus claimants whose titles have been rejected. Hence, the apex court has directed respective state chief secretaries to submit details of eviction against rejected titles. The FSI has also been asked to conduct a satellite survey and place on record the encroachment position before July 12, 2019. The next date of hearing is slated for July 24.

The affidavit filed by Maharashtra states that 2,54,042 claims have been filed by STs and 1,05,681 claims by OTFDs. Out of this, 13,712 claims of STs and 8,797 claims of OTFDs have been rejected. The state has failed to submit details of eviction of people whose claims were rejected. Hence, chief secretary has been directed to carry out eviction and submit report before the next date of hearing.

“In case the eviction is not carried out, as aforesaid, the matter would be viewed seriously by this court. It is directed that where verification, reverification and review process is pending, the states concerned shall do the needful within four months and submit report to this court,” said the bench.

Bogus claimants continue to occupy a huge area of rich forest land, including that in wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and national parks. Upon hearing senior counsel Shyam Diwan and PK Manohar in detail, the SC passed the order directing 17 states to submit data of eviction carried out against 11,91,327 rejected claims in their respective areas.

BOX

Misuse Of FRA Takes Huge Toll

* The FRA is a law meant for recognizing pre-existing forest rights only and thus not a land grant or land distribution Act. Only those in actual occupation of forest land as on December 13, 2005 are eligible

* People belonging to OTFD category, who form the bulk of the claims, have to establish a continuous 75-year occupation for eligibility

* Apart from loss of forests, it led to habitat fragmentation posing threat to long-term conservation of forests, tigers and biodiversity

* A total of 19,34,345 claims stand rejected as on September 30, 2018, as per MoTA statement of which individual claims are 18,88,066

* Analysis shows over 19 lakh hectare must be under encroachments

* Several independent agencies have already documented fresh clearing of forest land after cut-off date by satellite imagery analysis

* While 72 lakh hectare have been granted under FRA, not one hectare has been notified under critical wildlife habitat