The legal hoodwinking of Adivasis, Pg7

Key Highlights:

• The Chhattisgarh High Court upheld the cancellation of community forest rights (CFR) for Ghatbarra village in Hasdeo Arand forests.
• The ruling impacts mostly Adivasi residents whose forests were cleared for the Parsa East and Kanta Basan coal mine.
• The court dismissed the original recognition of rights as a “mistake,” suggesting monetary compensation.
• The Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) initially rejected the mining proposal in 2011 due to ecological concerns.
• In 2013, Ghatbarra Gram Sabha’s CFRs were formally recognized under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), but later revoked in 2016 by the District Level Committee (DLC).

Detailed Insights:

• The diversion of forest land for mining was initially rejected in 2011 by the FAC, which cited ecological richness and unsettled forest rights.
• In 2012, the forest clearance was granted despite villagers' protests; the National Green Tribunal (NGT) set aside this clearance in 2014, but the Supreme Court allowed mining to resume.
• The High Court's decision ignored Section 4(7) of the FRA, which mandates that forest rights be recognized "free of all encumbrances."
• The court sidestepped the question of whether the forest clearance complied with legal requirements to settle forest rights and obtain Gram Sabha consent.
• The judgment contradicts the principle of Adivasi self-determination over their customary forests, as highlighted in the Supreme Court’s Niyamgiri verdict (2013).

Key Concepts Involved:

• Community Forest Rights (CFR): Rights of a community to protect, manage, and conserve forest resources they have traditionally used.
• Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006: Indian legislation that grants legal recognition to the rights of traditional forest dwelling communities.
• Gram Sabha: A village assembly consisting of all adults residing in the village, playing a key role in local governance and decision-making.