Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court today (May 22) held that Zudpi jungle lands in Maharashtra are forest lands, bringing them under the purview of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (“FC Act”) and stalling their conversion without prior approval from the Central Government.

The judgment delivered by a bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice A.G. Masih held that all Zudpi Jungle land allotments made before 12 December 1996 when the T.N. Godavarman judgment (1996) extended the applicability of the FC Act's scope, will be regularized without compensatory afforestation or NPV payments, as they predated the settled legal position. However, post-1996 allotments will face strict scrutiny, requiring Central Government approval, compliance with forest laws, and possible action against officials responsible for illegal allotment, the court said.

The judgment authored by Chief Justice BR Gavai also dealt with encroachments in a time-sensitive manner. While encroachments prior to 1980 may be regularized if legally permissible, all post-1980 commercial encroachments must be cleared within two years by a Special Task Force. This approach aligns with the principle of sustainable development and recognizes the need for administrative accountability. Additionally, the Court directed that the remaining 7.76 lakh hectares of Zudpi Jungle lands be handed over to the Forest Department for afforestation, cementing the government's responsibility toward environmental restoration.

The Court disposed of several Interim Applications in the following terms:

"(i) It is directed that the Zudpi Jungle lands shall be considered as Forest lands in line with the order of this Court dated 12th December 1996 in the present proceedings;

(ii) In the peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case, we direct that as an exception, and without the same being treated as a precedent whatsoever for any matter, the Zudpi Jungle lands allotted by the competent authority up to 12th December 1996 and for which land classification has not been changed, the State of Maharashtra shall seek approval under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for their deletion from the “List of Forest Areas”;

(iii) We direct that the State of Maharashtra shall submit a consolidated proposal for each district. We clarify that all activities for which lands have been allotted by the competent authority will be deemed to be site-specific. We further clarify that the State Government shall ensure that the land used is not changed in the future under any circumstances and transfer is made only by inheritance;

(iv) We direct that on receipt of such proposals, the Union of India shall consider and approve the same without imposing any condition for compensatory afforestation or depositing NPV levies;

(v) We direct that the Union Government and the State of Maharashtra shall with mutual consultation and with prior approval of the CEC, devise a format for processing the proposal of diversion of Zudpi Jungle land for non-forestry activities within a period of three months from the date of this judgment;

(vi) For proposal regarding the allotments of Zudpi Jungle lands made post 12th December 1996, the State of Maharashtra shall give reasons in the proposal as to why such allotments were made along with the list of officers who had made such allotments in violation of the order of this Court. We clarify that the processing of proposal for such allotments shall be done by the Union Government only after ensuring that punitive action has been taken against the concerned officers under Sections 3A and 3B of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980;

(vii) We direct that the State of Maharashtra shall declare all the unallotted “fragmented land parcels” (each having an area of less than three hectare and not adjoining any forest area) as “Protected Forests” under Section 29 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927;

(viii) We further direct the State of Maharashtra to issue directions to all the concerned Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) to ensure that no such land parcel is encroached upon hereinafter. It is further directed that if any such encroachment takes place after the date of this judgment, the concerned SDM shall be made responsible for the same;

(ix) We clarify that, as and when these lands are required for non-forestry purposes by the State Government, the proposal shall be submitted as per the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. We further clarify that, in no case any such land shall be diverted to any non-governmental entity for any purpose whatsoever;

(x) We further direct that a Special Task Force comprising of Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Deputy Superintendent of Police, an Assistant Conservator of Forests and a Taluka Inspector of Land Revenue of land records should be constituted in each district to remove encroachments within a period of two years from the date of this judgment. We clarify that these officials will be posted only for this purpose and will not be assigned any other duty. We further clarify that all allotments for commercial purpose post 25th October 1980 must be treated at par with encroachments;

(xi) We further direct that the Revenue Department of the State of Maharashtra shall hand over the possession of the remaining area, if any, from the aforesaid area of 7,76,767.622 hectares, which is still in possession of the Revenue Department to the Forest Department. The same shall be done within a period of one year from the date of this judgment. We clarify that the said land shall be utilized only for the purpose of compensatory afforestation;

(xii) We direct the CEC to monitor the progress of the aforesaid transfer of the forest land. We further direct that the Zudpi land will not be permitted to use for compensatory afforestation unless there is a certificate of the Chief Secretary regarding the nonavailability of non-forest land for the purposes of afforestation. However, in such cases, compensatory afforestation must be carried out on double the area of Zudpi Jungle land, as per the existing guidelines of the MoEF&CC;

(xiii) As already directed in the recent case of In Re: Construction of Multi Storeyed Buildings in Forest Land Maharashtra (supra) dated 15th May 2025, we reiterate our direction to the Chief Secretaries of all the States and the Administrators of all the Union Territories to constitute Special Investigation Teams for the purpose of examining as to whether any of the Forest Land in the possession of the Revenue Department has been allotted to any private individuals/institutions for any purpose other than the forestry purpose; and

(xiv) We further reiterate our directions to the State Governments and the Union Territories to take steps to take the possession of the land from the persons/institutions in possession of such lands and hand over the same to the Forest Department. In case, it is found that taking back the possession of the land would not be in the larger public interest, the State Governments/Union Territories should recover the cost of the said land from the persons/institutions in occupation thereof and use the said amount for the purpose of development of forests."

The Court also directed the State of Maharashtra to pay an amount of Rs. 5,00,000/- to Shri K. Parameshwar, amicus curiae, and Rs.2,50,000/- each to Ms. Kanti, Mr. M.V. Mukunda, Ms. Raji Gururaj and Mr. Shreenivas Patil, counsels as a token for the valuable services rendered by them.

Case Title: IN RE: ZUDPI JUNGLE LANDS

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 609

Click here to read/download the judgment

Appearances:

Shri K. Parameshwar, Amicus Curiae

Shri Siddharth Dharmadhikari, for the State

Smt. Madhavi Divan, Senior Counsel for the intervenor