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THE
(Act XVI of 1927)
C
O N T E N T S
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
Sections
1. Short title and extent.
2. Interpretation clause.
CHAPTER II
OF RESERVED FORESTS
3. Powers
to reserve forest.
4. Notification
by Provincial Government.
5. Bar
of accrual of forest-rights.
6. Proclamation
by
7. Inquiry by
8. Powers of
9. Extinction of rights.
10. Treatment of claims relating to practice of shifting
cultivation.
11. Power to acquire land over which right is claimed.
12. Order on claims to rights of pasture or to forest-produce.
13. Record to be made by Forest Settlement-officer.
14. Record where he admits claim.
15. Exercise of rights admitted.
16. Commutation of rights.
17. Appeal from order passed under section 11, section 12,
section 15 or section 16.
18. Appeal under section 17.
19. Pleaders.
20. Notification declaring forest reserved.
21. Publication of translation of such notification in
neighbourhood of forest.
22. Power to revise arrangement made under section 15 or section
18.
23. No right acquired over reserved forest, except as here
provided.
24. Rights not to be alienated without sanction.
25. Power to stop ways and watercourses in reserved forests.
26. Acts prohibited in such forests.
26-A. Removal of encroachments etc., from reserved forests.
27. Power to declare forest no longer reserved.
CHAPTER III
OF VILLAGE-FORESTS
28. Formation of village forests.
CHAPTER IV
OF PROTECTED FORESTS
29. Protected forests.
30. Power to issue notification reserving trees, etc.
31. Publication of
translation of such notification in neighborhood.
32. Power to make rules for protected forests.
33. Penalties for acts in contravention of notification under
section 30 or of rules under section 32.
33-A. Power of Court to convict trespasser.
34. Nothing in this Chapter to
prohibit acts done in certain cases.
CHAPTER V
OF
THE CONTROL OVER FORESTS AND LANDS
NOT
BEING THE PROPERTY OF GOVERNMENT
35. Protection of forests for special purposes.
36. Power to assume management of forests.
37. Expropriation of forests in certain cases.
38. Protection of forests at request of owners.
CHAPTER VI
OF THE DUTY ON
TIMBER AND
OTHER FOREST-PRODUCE
39. Power to impose duty on timber and other forest-produce.
40. Limit not to apply to purchase-money or royalty.
CHAPTER VII
OF
THE CONTROL OF TIMBER AND
OTHER FOREST-PRODUCE IN
TRANSIT
41. Power to make rules to regulate, transit of forest-produce.
41-A. Powers of Federal Government as to movements of timber
across Customs frontiers.
42. Penalty for breach of rules made under section 41.
43. Government and Forest-officers not liable for damage to
forest-produce at depot.
44. All persons bound to aid in case of accident at depot.
CHAPTER VIII
OF THE COLLECTION OF DRIFT
AND STRANDED TIMBER
45. Certain kinds of timber to be deemed property of Government
until title thereto provided, and may be collected accordingly.
46. Notice to claimants of drift timber.
47. Procedure on claim preferred to such timber.
48. Disposal of unclaimed timber.
49. Government and its officers not liable for damage to such
timber.
50. Payments to be made by claimant before timber is delivered
to him.
51. Power to make rules and prescribe penalties.
CHAPTER IX
PENALTIES AND PROCEDURE
52. Seizure of property liable to confiscation.
53. Power to release property seized under section 52.
54. Procedure thereupon.
55. Forest produce, tools, etc., when liable to confiscation.
56. Disposal on conclusion of trial for forest-offence, of
produce in respect of which it was committed.
57. Procedure when offender not known, or cannot be found.
58. Procedure as to perishable
property seized under section 52.
59. Appeal from orders under section 55, section 56, or section
57.
60. Property when to vest in Government.
61. Saving of power to release property seized.
62. Punishment for wrongful seizure.
63. Penalty for counterfeiting or defacing marks on trees and
timber and for altering boundary marks.
64. Power to arrest without warrant.
65. Power to release on a bond a person arrested.
66. Power to prevent commission of offence.
67. Power to try offences summarily.
68. Power to compound offences.
69. Presumption that forest-produce belongs to Government.
CHAPTER X
CATTLE-TRESPASS
70. Cattle-Trespass Act, 1871, to apply.
71. Power to alter fines fixed under that Act.
CHAPTER XI
OF FOREST-OFFICERS
72. Provincial Government may invest Forest-officers with
certain powers.
73. Forest-officers deemed public servants.
74. Indemnity for acts done in good faith.
75. Forest-officers not to trade.
CHAPTER XII
SUBSIDIARY RULES
76. Additional powers to make rules.
77. Penalties for breach of rules.
78. Rules when to have force of law.
CHAPTER XIII
MISCELLANEOUS
79. Persons bound to assist Forest-officers and Police-officers.
80. Management of forests the joint property of Government and
other persons.
81. Failure to perform service for which a share in produce of
Government forest is enjoyed.
82. Recovery of money due to Government.
83. Lien on forest-produce for such money.
84. Land required under this
Act to be deemed to be needed for a public purpose under the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894.
85. Recovery of penalties due under bond.
85-A. Saving for rights of Government.
86. Repeals.
THE SCHEDULE
[Repealed]
[1]THE
FOREST ACT, 1927
(Act XVI of 1927)
[21 September 1927]
An Act to consolidate the law relating to forests, the
transit of forest-produce and the duty leviable on timber and other forest-produce
WHEREAS it is expedient to consolidate the law relating to
forests, the transit of forest-produce and the duty leviable on timber
and
other forest-produce;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short
title and extent.— (1) This Act
may be called the [2][* * *] Forest
Act, 1927.
[3][(2) It extends to the Punjab;]
(3) [4][ * * * ].
2. Interpretation clause.— In this Act, unless there is anything
repugnant in the subject or context,—
(1) “cattle” includes elephants, camels, buffaloes, horses, mares, geldings, ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, sheep, lambs, goats and kids;
(2) “Forest-officer”
means any person whom [5][* * *] the [6][Provincial
Government] or any officer empowered by [7][* * *] the [8][Provincial
Government] in this behalf, may appoint to carry out all or any of the purposes
of this Act or to do anything required
by this Act or any rule made thereunder
to be done by a Forest-officer;
(3) “forest-offence” means an offence punishable
under this Act or under any rule made thereunder;
(4) “forest-produce”
includes—
(a) the following whether found in, or brought from, a forest or not, that is to say:-
timber,
charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, wood oil, resin, natural varnish, bark, lac,
mahua flowers, mahua seeds, [9][kuth] and
myrabolams, and
(b) the following when found in, or brought from a forest, that is to say:-
(i) trees and leaves, flowers and fruits, and all other parts or produce not hereinbefore mentioned, of trees,
(ii) plants
not being trees (including grass, creepers, reeds and moss), and all parts or
produce of such plants,
(iii) wild
animals and skins, tusks, horns, bones, silk, cocoons, honey, and wax, and all
other parts of produce of animals, and
(iv) peat, surface soil, rock, and minerals (including limestone, laterite, mineral oils, and all products of mines or quarries);
[10][(4-A) “owner” includes a Court of Wards in respect
of property under the superintendence or charge of such court;]
(5) “river”
includes any stream, canal, creek or other channels, natural or artificial;
(6) “timber”
includes trees when they have fallen or have been felled, and all wood whether
cut up or fashioned or hollowed out for any
purpose or not ; and
(7) “tree”
includes palms, bamboos, stumps, brushwood and canes.
CHAPTER
II
OF
RESERVED FORESTS
3. Powers to reserve forest.— The [11][Provincial Government] may constitute any forest-land or waste-land
which is the property of Government, or over which the Government
has
proprietary rights, or to the whole or any part of the forest-produce of which
the Government is entitled, a reserved forest
in the manner hereinafter
provided.
4. Notification
by Provincial Government.— (1) Whenever
it has been decided to constitute any land a reserved forest, the [12][Provincial
Government] shall issue a notification in the [13][official
Gazette]—
(a) declaring that it has been decided to
constitute such land a reserved forest;
(b) specifying, as nearly
as possible, the situation and limits of such land; and
(c) appointing an officer (hereinafter called “the Forest Settlement-officer”) to inquire into and determine the existence, nature and extent of any rights alleged to exist in favour of any person in or over any land comprised within such limits, or in or over any forest-produce, and to deal with the same as provided in this Chapter.
Explanation— For the
purpose of clause (b), it shall be sufficient to describe the limits of the
forest by roads, rivers, bridges or other well-known
or readily intelligible
boundaries.
(2) The
officer appointed under clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall ordinarily be a
person not holding any forest-office except that of
Forest Settlement-officer.
(3) Nothing
in this section shall prevent the [14][Provincial
Government] from appointing any number of officers not exceeding three, not
more than one of whom shall be a person holding
any forest-office except as
aforesaid, to perform the duties of a Forest Settlement-officer under this Act.
5. Bar of accrual of forest-rights.— After the issue of a notification under
section 4, no right shall be acquired in or over the land comprised in such
notification,
except by succession or under a grant or contract in writing made
or entered into by or [15][on behalf of the Government] or some person in whom such right was vested
when the notification was issued; and no fresh clearings
for cultivation or for
any other purpose shall be made in such land except in accordance with such
rules as may be made by the [16][Provincial Government] in this behalf.
6. Proclamation
by Forest Settlement-officer.— When a
notification has been issued under section 4, the Forest Settlement-officer
shall publish in the local vernacular in every
town and village in the
neighbourhood of the land comprised therein, a proclamation—
(a) specifying, as nearly
as possible, the situation and limits of the proposed forest;
(b) explaining the
consequences which, as hereinafter provided, will ensue on the reservation of
such forest; and
(c) fixing a period of
not less than three months from the date of such proclamation, and requiring
every person claiming any right mentioned
in section 4 or section 5 within such
period either to present to the Forest Settlement-officer a written notice
specifying or to
appear before him and state, the nature of such right and the
amount and particulars of the compensation (if any) claimed in respect
thereof.
7. Inquiry
by Forest Settlement-officer.— The Forest
Settlement-officer shall take down in writing all statements made under section
6, and shall at some convenient place inquire
into all claims duly preferred
under that section, and the existence of any rights mentioned in section 4 or
section 5 and not claimed
under section 6 so far as the same may be
ascertainable from the records of Government and the evidence of any persons
likely to
be acquainted with the same.
8. Powers of
Forest Settlement-officer.— For the
purpose of such inquiry, the Forest Settlement-officer may exercise the
following powers, that is to say:-
(a) power to enter, by himself or any officer authorised by him for the purpose, upon any land, and to survey, demarcate and make a map of the same; and
(b) the powers of a Civil
Court in the trial of suits.
9. Extinction
of rights.— Rights in respect of
which no claim has been preferred under section 6, and of the existence of
which no knowledge has been acquired
by inquiry under section 7, shall be
extinguished, unless, before the notification under section 20 is published,
the person claiming
them satisfies the Forest Settlement-officer that he had sufficient
cause for not preferring such claim within the period fixed under
section 6.
10. Treatment of claims relating to practice of
shifting cultivation.— (1) In the case of a claim relating to the
practice of shifting cultivation, the Forest Settlement-officer shall record a
statement
setting forth the particulars of the claim and of any local rule or
order under which the practice is allowed or regulated, and submit
the
statement to the [17][Provincial Government], together with his opinion as to whether the
practice should be permitted or prohibited wholly or in part.
(2) On
receipt of the statement and opinion, the [18][Provincial
Government] may make an order permitting or prohibiting the practice wholly or
in part.
(3) If
such practice is permitted wholly or in part, the Forest Settlement-officer may
arrange for its exercise—
(a) by altering the limits of the land under settlement so as to exclude land of sufficient extent, of a suitable kind, and in a locality reasonably convenient for the purposes of the claimants, or
(b) by causing
certain portions of the land under settlement to be separately demarcated, and
giving permission to the claimants to practice
shifting cultivation therein
under such conditions as he may prescribe.
(4) All
arrangements made under sub-section (3) shall be subject to the previous
sanction of the [19][Provincial
Government].
(5) The
practice of shifting cultivation shall in all cases be deemed a privilege
subject to control, restriction and abolition by the
[20][Provincial
Government].
11. Power to acquire land over which right is claimed.— (1) In the case of a claim to a right in or
over any land other than a right-of-way or right of pasture, or a right to
forest-produce
or a water-course, the Forest Settlement-officer shall pass an order
admitting or rejecting the same in whole or in part.
(2) If
such claim is admitted in whole or in part, the Forest Settlement-officer shall
either—
(i) exclude such land from the limits of the proposed forest; or
(ii) come to an
agreement with the owner thereof for the surrender of his rights; or
(iii) proceed to
acquire such land in the manner provided by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894[21].
(3) For
the purpose of so acquiring such land—
(a) the forest Settlement-officer shall be deemed
to be a
[22][District Officer (Revenue)] proceeding
under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894;
(b) the claimant
shall be deemed to be a person interested and appearing before him in pursuance
of a notice given under section 9 of
that Act;
(c) the provisions
of the preceding sections of that Act shall be deemed to have been complied
with; and
(d) the [23][District Officer (Revenue)], with the consent of the claimant, or the
Court, with the consent of both parties, may award compensation
in land, or
partly in land and partly in money.
12. Order on claims to rights of pasture or to forest-produce.— In the case of a claim to rights of pasture or
to forest-produce, the Forest Settlement-officer shall pass an order admitting
or rejecting
the same in whole or in part.
13. Record to be made by Forest Settlement-officer.— The Forest Settlement-officer, when passing
any order under section 12, shall record, so far as may be practicable,—
(a) the name, father’s
name, caste, residence and occupation of the person claiming the right; and
(b) the
designation, position and area of all fields or groups of fields (if any), and
the designation and position of all buildings (if
any) in respect of which the
exercise of such rights is claimed.
14. Record where he admits claim.— If the Forest Settlement-officer
admits in whole or in part any claim under section 12, he shall also record the
extent to which the
claim is so admitted, specifying the number and description
of the cattle which the claimant is from time to time entitled to graze
in the forest,
the season during which such pasture is permitted, the quantity of timber and
other forest-produce which he is from
time to time authorised to take or
receive, and such other particulars as the case may require. He shall also
record whether the
timber or other forest-produce obtained by the exercise of
the rights claimed may be sold or bartered.
15. Exercise of rights admitted.— (1) After making such record the
Forest Settlement-officer shall, to the best of his ability, and having due
regard to the maintenance
of the reserved forest in respect of which the claim
is made, pass such orders as will ensure the continued exercise of the rights
so admitted.
(2) For
this purpose the Forest Settlement-officer may—
(a) set out some other forest-tract of sufficient
extent, and in a locality reasonably convenient, for the purposes of such
claimants,
and record an order conferring upon them a right of pasture or to
forest-produce (as the case may be) to the extent so admitted;
or
(b) so alter the
limits of the proposed forest as to exclude forest-land of sufficient extent,
and in a locality reasonably convenient,
for the purposes of the claimants; or
(c) record an
order, continuing to such claimants a right of pasture or to forest-produce, as
the case may be, to the extent so admitted,
at such seasons, within such
portions of the proposed forest, and under such rules, as may be made in this
behalf by the [24][Provincial
Government].
16. Commutation of rights.— In case the Forest
Settlement-officer finds it impossible, having due regard to the maintenance of
the reserved forest, to make such
settlement under section 15 as shall ensure
the continued exercise of the said rights to the extent so admitted, he shall,
subject
to such rules as the [25][Provincial Government] may make in this behalf, commute such rights, by
the payment to such persons of a sum of money in lieu thereof,
or by the grant
of land, or in such other manner as he thinks fit.
17. Appeal from order passed under section 11,
section 12, section 15 or section 16.— Any person who has made a claim under this
Act, or any Forest-officer or other person generally or specially empowered by
the [26][Provincial Government] in this behalf, may, within three months from
the date of the order passed on such claim by the Forest Settlement-officer
under section 11, section 12, section 15 or section 16, present an appeal from
such order to such officer of the Revenue Department,
of rank not lower than
that of a [27][District Officer (Revenue)], as the [28][Provincial Government] may, by notification in the [29][official Gazette], appoint to hear appeals from such orders:
Provided that the [30][Provincial
Government] may establish a Court (hereinafter called the Forest Court)
composed of three persons to be appointed by the
[31][Provincial Government],
and, when the Forest Court has been so established, all such appeals shall be
presented to it.
18. Appeal under section 17.— (1) Every appeal under section 17 shall be
made by petition in writing, and may be delivered to the Forest Settlement-officer,
who
shall forward it without delay to the authority competent to hear the same.
(2) If
the appeal be to an officer appointed under section 17, it shall be heard in
the manner prescribed for the time being for the hearing
of appeals in matters
relating to land revenue.
(3) If
the appeal be to the Forest Court, the Court shall fix a day and a convenient
place in the neighbourhood of the proposed forest
for hearing the appeal, and
shall give notice thereof to the parties, and shall hear such appeal accordingly.
(4) The
order passed on the appeal by such officer or Court, or by the majority of the
members of such Court, as the case may be, shall,
subject to revision by the [32][Provincial
Government], be final.
19. Pleaders.— The [33][Provincial Government], or any person who has made a claim under this
Act, may appoint any person to appear, plead and act on its
or his behalf
before the Forest Settlement-officer, or the appellate officer or Court, in the
course of any inquiry or appeal under
this Act.
20. Notification declaring forest reserved.— (1) When the following events have occurred,
namely:-
(a) the
period fixed under section 6 for preferring claims has elapsed, and all claims,
if any, made under that section or section 9 have
been disposed of by the Forest
Settlement-officer;
(b) if
any such claims have been made, the period limited by section 17 for appealing
from the orders passed on such claims has elapsed,
and all appeals (if any)
presented within such period have been disposed of by the appellate officer or
Court; and
(c) all lands (if any)
to be included in the proposed forest, which the Forest Settlement-officer has,
under section 11, elected to acquire
under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894[34], have become
vested in the Government under section 16 of that Act,
the [35][Provincial Government] shall publish a notification in the [36][official Gazette], specifying definitely, according to boundary-marks
erected or otherwise the limits of the forest which is to be
reserved, and
declaring the same to be reserved from a date fixed by the notification.
(2) From
the date so fixed such forest shall be deemed to be a reserved forest.
21. Publication of translation of such
notification in neighbourhood of forest.— The Forest-officer shall, before the date
fixed by such notification, cause a translation thereof into the local
vernacular to be
published in every town and village in the neighbourhood of
the forest.
22. Power to revise arrangement made under section 15 or section 18.— The [37][Provincial
Government] may, within five years from the publication of any notification
under section 20, revise any arrangement made
under section 15 or section 18,
and may for this purpose rescind or modify any order made under section 15 or
section 18, and direct
that any one of the proceedings specified in section 15
be taken in lieu of any other of such proceedings, or that the rights admitted
under section 12 be commuted under section 16.
23. No right acquired over reserved forest,
except as here provided.— No right of any description shall be acquired
in or over a reserved forest except by succession or under a grant or contract
in writing
made by or [38][on behalf of the Government] or some person in whom such right was
vested when the notification under section 20 was issued.
24. Rights not to be alienated without sanction.— (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 23, no right continued under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 15 shall