Supreme Court: Forest Rights Act does not protect commercial crops grown in forests

Growing commercial crops inside reserve forests is not a right protected by the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the Supreme Court has said in an order on silk cotton farming in Tamil Nadu.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta gave the order on 6 November. It concerns silk cotton grown in the reserve forests of the Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats.

Why it matters

The Forest Rights Act protects Scheduled Tribes and other families who have lived in forests for generations and depend on them to live. The court said it does not cover commercial farmers or plantation owners. The view could affect how other States deal with cash crops on forest land.

What the court said

About 3,637 hectares of the 5,072 hectares of forest land in question are under silk cotton, the order noted. The court said the Tamil Nadu government’s own affidavits showed that the State had promoted the crop as a commercial one.

“The concept of planned cultivation of commercial crops is totally contrary to the very concept of a naturally occurring minor forest produce,” the bench said. Its first view was that planned farming of a cash crop inside a forest is “completely impermissible”.

The Act lets forest dwellers collect, use and sell minor forest produce, such as honey or leaves that grow naturally. Growing a planted crop is not such a right, the court said, and cannot justify people staying on forest land. “If commercial crops are permitted to be cultivated in the forest areas, the very nature of the forest is bound to change,” wrote Justice Mehta, who authored the order.

The court did not accept the State’s argument that silk cotton had long been grown there.

What’s next

The court asked its Central Empowered Committee, an expert panel on forest matters, to examine the State government’s view that silk cotton is a minor forest produce. It will hear the case again after the committee reports.