SC orders restoration of forest land in Kondhwa

In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has ordered the restoration of 29 acres and 15 gunthas (one guntha is equal to 1,089 square feet) of reserved forest land in Pune's Kondhwa Budruk illegally allotted and diverted for construction purposes.

- Gayatri Vajpeyee

PUNE: The apex court in its ruling on Thursday declared the allotment and all subsequent transactions and developments on the land as void, citing a clear violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

The verdict comes in response to a petition filed in 2007 by Nagrik Chetna Manch, a citizens' group. The petition challenged the 1998 allotment of the forest land to members of the Chavan family, which was later sold to Richie Rich Cooperative Housing Society (RRCHS) for a multi-storey residential project.

The court found that the land had been notified as reserved forest in 1879 and remained so in official records. No valid de-reservation process had been undertaken after 1934. The apex court held that the diversion of forest land for non-forest use was illegal and stemmed from a nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, and builders, under the pretext of rehabilitation.