Supreme Court Issues Notice In Plea By Retired Civil Servants Challenging The 2023 Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act

The Supreme Court has recently issued notice in a Writ Petition, filed by a group of retired civil servants, which notably includes the former Secretary and former Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), as well as several former Principal Chief Conservators of Forests from five different states and the former members of the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife, challenging the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act of 2023, on the ground of being violative of the Constitution.

Seeking a response from the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, the Bench of Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra ordered, "Issue notice, returnable in six weeks. Dasti, in addition, is permitted. In addition to the usual mode, liberty is granted to the petitioner to serve notice on the Central Agency."

Senior Advocate Prashanto Chandra Sen, along with Advocates Kaushik Choudhury and Shibani Ghosh appeared for the Petitioners. 

The Writ Petition challenges the Amendment Act of 2023 in the Forest (Conservation) Act primarily based on the argument that it aims to bypass the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in the TN Godavarman case (1997 2 SCC 267). The Petition submits that this amendment in question is designed to narrow down the definition of "forest" as established by the Supreme Court in this case.

It has also been submitted in the Writ Petition that the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023 is highly detrimental to the environmental and ecological integrity of the country and if not struck down with immediate effect will cause untold and irreversible damage to India’s forests and wildlife and greatly impacting human welfare.

The Petitioners also submit that the amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023 reflect a complete dereliction of duty imposed on the State to protect and improve the environment. "Stripping vast tracts of forest land of any legal protection and permitting a wide spectrum of activities in forest land on the pretext that they do not constitute non-forest use will cause extensive environmental degradation, not prevent it", reads the Petition. 

It has also been highlighted in the Petition that the 2023 Amendment Act unlawfully delegates what are essentially legislative functions to the government. "The discretion granted to the Central Government under the provisions of the law are excessive, and there is not sufficient guidance for the exercise of this discretion", states the Petition. 

It has also been contended that the 2023 Amendment Act while exempting certain forest lands from the applicability of the FC Act and declaring a large number of activities as outside the remit of non-forest purposes, gives the Central Government unfettered discretion to define the related terms and conditions through orders, guidelines and directions.

Cause Title: Ashok Kumar Sharma & Ors. v. Union Of India & Anr. [Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 1164/2023]

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