The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a legal challenge concerning the community forest rights of tribal residents in a Chhattisgarh village, while clarifying that ongoing operations at an adjacent coal block will proceed without interruption.
A three-judge bench issued notices to the Union government, the Chhattisgarh state government, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RRVUNL), and the Surguja District Level Forest Rights Committee. The order comes in response to a petition filed by the Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti and six individual appellants.
Scope Of Judicial Review
Heading the bench, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, alongside Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, stated that the apex court will ascertain whether community forest rights legally exist in this instance. The court noted that if such rights are recognized, it will explore potential legal remedies for their enforcement.
Following submissions by senior advocate C.U. Singh on behalf of the petitioners, the bench explicitly confirmed that examining these legal issues will not affect the ongoing mining operations carried out by RRVUNL at the Parsa East and Kete Basen (PEKB) captive coal block.
High Court Proceedings
The appeal challenges an April 21 decision by the Chhattisgarh High Court, which had dismissed the group’s petition against the cancellation of community forest rights in Ghatbarra village and the subsequent approvals for Phase-II mining at PEKB.
The High Court division bench had upheld an October 8, 2025 single-judge ruling, determining that the petition represented an impermissible collateral challenge to legal issues that had already reached finality in prior litigation. The High Court emphasized that the petitioners had not challenged foundational administrative directives, including the 2011 and 2012 forest clearance orders as well as the state government’s land diversion order issued on March 28, 2012.
Statutory Safeguards And Mining Timeline
Ghatbarra, a village inhabited mainly by tribal communities, was previously recognized under the Forest Rights Act, granting residents legal authority to protect, manage, and utilize their traditional forest land.
The PEKB coal block was allocated to RRVUNL for power generation. Extraction under Phase-I has already concluded, whereas Phase-II mining received regulatory approval in February 2022. The petition asserts that revoking the community rights and granting forest diversion permits violated statutory requirements under the Forest Rights Act, including mandatory Gram Sabha consent. The petitioners also argued that cultural and ecological damage resulting from forest clearance cannot be compensated through monetary means.
