Plea against eviction of forest –dwellers

A division bench comprising Chief Justice A R Dave and C.V.Nagarjuna Reddy admitted a public interest writ petition against eviction of Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest-dwellers who are in occupation of forest lands.
Sakti, an NGO working for tribals in the State, referred to the Act of Parliament made in 2007 relating to recognition of forest rights of Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest-dwellers.  The enactment requires statutory authorities to issue enjoyment certificates on survey.
The petitioner complained that the whole process of recognition and vesting of forest lands is reversed by making the tribe an applicant and the authorities the granter of rights rather than recognizing and identifying the tribe and vesting the forest rights on the basis of the official documents.  The petitioner also alleged that the intent of enactment was frustrated due to a communication gap between officials and people.
The court granted four weeks’ time to the authorities to respond.