Content Provider | Supreme Court of India |
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e-ISSN | 30484839 |
Language | English |
Access Restriction | NDLI |
Subject Keyword | Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act Service of notice |
Content Type | Text |
Resource Type | Law Judgement |
Jurisdiction | India |
Case Type | Appeal |
Court | Supreme Court of India |
Disposal Nature | Appeal Allowed |
Headnote | FOREST ACT, 1927:s.35(3) - Mere issuance of a notice u/s.35(3) is not sufficient for any/and being, declared a "private forest" within the meaning of that expression as defined in s.2(f)(iii) of the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act, 1975 - s.35(3) is not intended to end the process with the mere issuance of a notice but it also requires service of a notice on the owner of the forest - The need for ensuring service is also to prevent damage to or destruction of a forest - In the absence of any time period having been specified for deciding a show cause notice issued u/s.35, it must be presumed that it must be decided within a reasonable time - In the instant case, notice issued u/s.35(3) after its publication in the Gazette was not acted upon either under the provisions of the Forest Act as amended from time to time or under the Private Forests Act. Admittedly, no attempt was made by the State to take over possession of the disputed land at any point of time - On the contrary, permissions were granted from time to time for construction of buildings on the disputed land - Under the circumstances, it cannot be said that any of these disputed lands were 'forest' within the primary meaning of that word, or even within the extended meaning given in s.2(c-i) of the Private Forests Act - Maharashtra Private Forests Acquisition Act, 1975 - s.2(c-i), 2(f)(iii). s.35(3) - Service of notice - Notice was issued to the appellant in 1957 but no decision was taken thereon till 1975, that is, for about 18 years - This is an unusually long period and undoubtedly much more than a reasonable time had elapsed for enabling the State to take a decision on the notice - Therefore, the said notice must, for all intents and purposes be treated as having become a dead letter - The said notice cannot be described as a 'pipeline notice' since it cannot be reasonably said that the pipeline extends from 1956-57 up to 1975 - No citizen can reasonably be told after almost half a century that he/she was issued a show cause notice (which was not served also) and based on the said notice his land was declared a private forest about three decades ago and that it vests in the State - State cannot be allowed to demolish the massive constructions made thereon over the last half a century - Basic principles of good governance must be followed by every member of the Executive branch of the State at all times keeping the interests of all citizens in mind as also the larger public interest. MAHARASHTRA PRIVATE FORESTS ACQUISITION ACT, 1975: s.2(f)(iii) - Service of notice - Word "issued" in s.2(f)(iii) of the Act, 1975 r/w s.35 of the Forest Act, 1927 - Interpretation of - Held: It must be given a broad meaning in the surrounding context in which it is used - The scheme of s.35 of the Forest Act needs to be kept in mind while considering ''issued" in s.2(f)(iii) of the Private Forests Act - A notice u/s.35(3) of the Forest Act is intended to give an opportunity to the owner of a forest to show cause why, inter alia, a regulatory or a prohibitory measure be not made in respect of that forest - Such a notice pre-supposes the existence of a forest - The owner of the forest is expected to file objections within a reasonable time as specified in the notice and is also given an opportunity to lead evidence in support of the objections - After these basic requirements are met, the owner of the forest is entitled to a hearing on the objections - This entire procedure obviously cannot be followed by the State and the owner of the forest unless the owner is served with the notice - s. 2(f)(iii) of the Private Forests Act is not intended to apply to notices that had passed their shelf-life and that only 'pipeline notices' issued in reasonably close proximity to the coming into force of the Private Forests Act are 'live' and could be acted upon. INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES: Literal interpretation or contextual interpretation - Held: Words in a statute must be interpreted literally - But at the same time if the context in which a word is used and the provisions of a· statute inexorably suggest a subtext other than literal, then the context becomes important - It is true that ordinary rule of construction is to assign the word a meaning which it ordinarily carries - But the subject of legislation and the context in which a word or expression is employed may require a departure from the rule of literal construction. |
Judge | Hon'ble Mr. Justice Madan Bhimarao Lokur |
Neutral Citation | 2014 INSC 68 |
Petitioner | Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. & Anr. |
Respondent | The State Of Maharashtra & Ors. |
SCR | [2014] 2 S.C.R. 203 |
Judgement Date | 2014-01-30 |
Case Number | 1102 |
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