The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought to declare 42 acres of the defunct Hukumchand Mill land in the city as a “city forest.”
A division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Jai Kumar Pillai ruled that there is no concept of a “city forest” under the Indian Forest Act, while rejecting the plea filed by environmental activist Omprakash Joshi and others on Wednesday.
The petitioners argued that the plot, lying vacant since the mill’s closure in 1992, had naturally regenerated into a forest-like area and should be declared as such. They also sought quashing of a tender issued for tree cutting.
The bench observed that the Madhya Pradesh Housing and Infrastructure Development Board (MPHIDB) had purchased the land after depositing ₹421 crore with the official liquidator, with most of the amount distributed to creditors and ex-workers. It noted that MPHIDB had earmarked 60% of the area for commercial purposes and 40% for residential purposes.
The court also pointed out that the tender was issued only for the removal of shrubs, bushes, and uprooted trees that had grown naturally on the vacant land since 1992. “The contention of the petitioners that there is a city forest with hundreds of fully grown trees in Hukumchand Mill has no basis,” the bench held.
Refusing to intervene, the court said MPHIDB had not invested such a large amount to keep the land idle for greenery. “Once the MPHIDB has invested the amount and purchased the land for development, without removing all these shrubs, bushes and uprooted trees, the construction cannot be started,” the order stated.
The bench further clarified that while the petitioners sought protection of the green cover in public interest, the Indian Forest Act does not recognise any concept of ‘city forest’. Moreover, the land was not a declared government forest.
