Retired civil servants move Supreme Court challenging amendments to Forest Conservation Act

A group of retired civil servants have moved the Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of the recent amendments to the Forest Conservation Act which among other things relax provisions prohibiting developmental activities. [Ashok Kumar Sharma and ors vs Union of India and anr]..Allowing megaprojects to come up in the wilderness and forests could disrupt complex ecological systems and threaten the survival of endangered life-forms, the petitioners submitted.When the matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices BR Gavai, Aravind Kumar and Prashant Kumar Mishra on October 20, the Court sought the response of the Central government on the matter.The petitioners moved the Court contending that the amendments significantly reduce the legal protections earlier accorded to vast tracts of forest lands in India. The same will now be exposed to deforestation and irreversible damage, it was argued."The 2023 Amendment Act will threaten the environmental, ecological and food security of the country, and impact the lives and livelihoods of local communities. It grants unfettered discretion to the Central Government regarding use of forest lands and reduces regulatory scrutiny of forest lands. As it impinges on various constitutional provisions and violates various established principles of Indian environmental law, the impugned 2023 Amendment Act must be struck down in its entirety," the plea said.As per the petition, due parliamentary procedure and consultation was not followed in enacting the law."Despite receiving 1,309 memoranda questioning the soundness of the Bill, the Committee accepted, without any critical comment, all its provisions in its report ... It disregarded any and all genuine concerns ... The outcry of the scientific community, forest officers, conservationists, tribal councils, retired civil servants, and other expert advice, was completely ignored ... The Government, nonetheless, bulldozed the bill through Parliament without considering the widespread dissent expressed," the petitioners stated. The Act is in violation of the Supreme Court's 1996 orders in the TN Godavarman case where forest lands are to be identified by an expert committee, whose reports have to be in public domain, it was submitted..It was also stressed that human-wildlife conflict will increase as a result of opening forest land for non-forest use. The blanket exemption of protective rules for forest land within 100 kms of international borders was also objected to..Supreme Court lifts stay on JPC notice inviting objections/ suggestions to Forest Conservation Amendment Bill 2023.Senior Advocate Prashanto Chandra Sen with advocates Kaushik Choudhury, Shibani Ghosh, Saksham Garg, Jyotirmoy Chatterjee, Khyati Jain, and Akshata Chhabra represented the petitioners..[Read order]