The Apex Court of India has ordered forcible eviction of more than 10 lakh forest dwelling tribal families across 16 states. A written order released on February 20, 2019, by the court read, “In case the eviction is not carried out, as aforesaid, the matter would be viewed seriously by this court”.
The ruling came in reaction to the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed by wildlife groups, on February 13, 2019, challenging the validity of Forests Right Act of 2006. The petitioners demanded the eviction of those whose claims over traditional forestlands are rejected under the law/Act.
The Forests Right Act of 2006 was passed by the Parliament to restore the rights of traditional inhabitants of forests to access, manage, and govern forests within their village boundaries, which had been under the control of the forest department since colonial times. The Act also states that only those forest dwellers are eligible for land rights, who are living on the forest land for at least three generations prior to December 31, 2005.
The three-judge bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Navin Sinha, and Indira Banerjee, ordered the state governments to evict the Adivasis whose claims have been rejected. The SC also asked the governments to submit a report on the matter in the court. The matter will be heard next on July 27, 2019.
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a consortium of several Adivasi groups and forest dwellers’ movement, has alleged that on February 13, no lawyer was present on the behalf of Union Government, at the hearing.
As per the affidavits filed by the states on February 20, as many as 11,27,446, land ownership claims made by Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, have been rejected on different grounds. On hearing this, the Supreme Court asked the states to explain why, despite the rejection of claims, no evictions were made.
Alleging that the Bhartiya Janata Party was standing as a meek spectator when the Act was being challenged in the court, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said on February 14, 2019, “It is indicating its intentions to drive out lakhs of tribals and poor farmers from the forests”.
Several tribal groups, whose claims have been rejected have contended that the rejections are faulty and must be reviewed. They also said that the law does not lead to automatic evictions, and in some cases, the claimants are anyway not in possession of lands they had sought as their ancestral forests.
However, the wildlife NGOs, who have filed the petition, maintained that the law has led to deforestation, and is against the Constitution.