In a significant verdict for environmental conservation, the Bombay High Court on Friday restored the status of approximately 120 hectares of land in Kanjurmarg as “protected forest”, quashing a 2009 notification that had declassified the area for the purpose of developing a dumping ground.
A division bench comprising Justices Somasekhar Sundaresan and G S Kulkarni held that the decision to alter the forest classification was legally unsustainable and violated the procedures mandated under the Forest Conservation Act.
“In view of the forest notification having been a product of specific and clear factual review, the impugned notification to exclude 119.91 hectares of land by re-issuing the forest notification by way of a corrigendum deserves to be quashed and set aside,” the bench ruled.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Maharashtra government had argued that the original classification of the land as forest was a clerical mistake, which was corrected through the 2009 notification. However, the court firmly rejected this stance, stating that due legal process for de-reservation of forest land had not been followed.
“The notification changing the land’s status was unsustainable and in conflict with the requirement of law governing de-reservation of a forest,” the court added.
The case stemmed from a 2013 petition filed by environmental NGO Vanashakti, which challenged the de-notification of the Kanjurmarg land. The petitioner contended that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had granted environmental clearance for setting up a garbage dump on the site in March 2009 without adequately considering the area’s classification as a protected forest.
The High Court has now directed the BMC to comply with the order and restore the forest status within a period of three months.
