MINING versus rights of tribals over forest land has been a familiar story in Mirzapur district where unscrupulous forest officials allowed min ing leases in the reserved forest areas. Recently, the Supreme Court repriman ded the UP government for not having “any disciplinary control over” its forest officers in spite of its order fixing 1994 as the cut-off year for the process.
The dispute dates back to the 1980s when the UP government declared Dudhi and Robertsganj, two tehsils of Mirzapur district, as reserved forest land, affecting tribals who had been living there for decades. The Court had registered a writ petition on a letter written by an NGO, Banwasi Sewa Ashram, under Article 32, regarding the claims of tribals to the land in these tehsils.
On December 15, 1983, the Supreme Court gave directions for the appointment of a high-powered committee “for the purpose of adjudicating upon the claims of the persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and backward classes of their land entitlements as also to examine the hereditary and customary rights of farmers in those tehsils and to adjudicate the claims of tribals of their customary rights with respect to fodder, fuel, wood, small timber…flower, fruits and minor forest produce”. The committee found that “roughly one lakh eighty thousand acres” of land was in unauthorised occupation. The panel identified “433 villages lying south of Kaimur Range of the Mirzapur District to be relevant for the present dispute. Of these, 299 were in Dudhi tehsil and the remaining 134 in Robertsganj tehsil.
This story is from the October 07, 2019 edition of India Legal.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 07, 2019 edition of India Legal.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
PIL, Difficult To Swallow?
In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court lamented the increasing number of frivolous public interest litigations being filed in courts and echoed the sentiments of the Supreme Court that such litigations are the bane of the judicial system. Is there any way to restrict their misuse?
Till Infertility Do Us Part...
The Calcutta High Court slammed a husband for initiating divorce proceedings due to his wife's infertility and asked him to be a pillar of support for her. Courts have often taken an empathetic view in such matters
IS THAT LEGAL?
Ignorance of law is no excuse. Here are answers to frequently asked queries regarding matters that affect us on a day-to-day basis
The Big Lie
In America, The Big Lie is an idiom used by Donald Trump's opponents and the media to describe his constant gripe about election fraud. Now, it seems more suited to another Republican, Congressman George Santos (right), who has been facing growing calls to resign after he admitted fabricating parts of his resume and biography since his election in New York last year.
Flying into the Sunset
Over 50 years since the first and original jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, took to the skies and revolutionized air travel, the last of the legendary aircraft (right) was delivered to a freight charter company, bringing down the curtain on one of aviation's most successful products.
Star Crossed
Actor and producer Alec Baldwin is a Hollywood legend, having starred in a range of movies, award winning TV sitcoms, and theatre. He was most recently seen in Mission Impossible Fallout, which is an apt description of his current situation.
Walkouts in the UK
An estimated half a million workers have gone on strike, shutting down thousands of schools, public transport and border disruption. It is the biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade.
Myanmar's Misery
Two years after the military coup ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the brutal crackdown by the junta on so-called \"insurgents\" and civilian protesters has reached a new level with the use of air strikes, a new and deadly tactic in the ongoing civil war.
AMERICA'S ANGST
From messy, divisive politics to a series of mass shootings, and now black officers brutally beating another black man to death as seen in bodycam videos, America's domestic convulsions are cause for serious introspection
JUSTICE LEAGUE
There are few judicial appointment procedures in the world that are completely bereft of the overarching presence of either the executive or the legislature, or both. In the end, the judge is left with all the powers vested in him/her by the constitution to uphold the rule of law, within an atmosphere of external influences
