Forest Act, 1927- Sections 28 to 51

Chapter III

OF VILLAGE-FORESTS

28. Formation of village-forests.

28. Formation of village-forests.—(1) The State Government may assign to any village-community the rights of Government to or over any land which has been constituted a reserved forests, and may cancel such assignment. All forests so assigned shall be called village-forests.

(2) The State Government may make rules for regulating the management of village-forests, prescribing the conditions under which the community to which any such assignment is made may be provided with timber or other forest-produce or pasture, and their duties for the protection and improvement of such forest.

(3) All the provisions of this Act relating to reserved forests shall (so far as they are not inconsistent with the rules so made) apply to village-forests.

Chapter IV

OF PROTECTED FORESTS

29. Protected forests.

29. Protected forests.—(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare the provisions of this Chapter applicable to any forest-land or waste-land which is not included in a reserved forest but 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.

(2) The forest-land and waste-lands comprised in any such notification shall be called a “protected forest”.

(3) No such notification shall be made unless the nature and extend of the rights of Government and of private persons in or over the forest-land or waste-land comprised therein have been inquired into and recorded at a survey or settlement, or in such other manner as the State Government think sufficient. Every such record shall be presumed to be correct until the contrary is proved:

Provided that, if, in the case of any forest-land or waste land, the State Government thinks that such inquiry and record are necessary, but that they will occupy such length of time as in the meantime to endanger the rights of Government, the State Government may, pending such inquiry and record, declare such land to be a protected forest, but so as not to abridge or affect any existing rights of individuals or communities.

30. Power to issue notification reserving trees, etc.

30. Power to issue notification reserving trees, etc.—The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,—

(a) declare any trees or class of trees in a protected forest to be reserved from a date fixed by the notification;

(b) declare that any portion of such forest specified in the notification shall be closed for such term, not exceeding thirty years, as the State Government thinks fit, and that the rights of private persons, if any, over such portion shall be suspended during such terms, provided that the remainder of such forest be sufficient, and in a locality reasonably convenient, for the due exercise of the right suspended in the portion so closed; or

(c) prohibit, from a date fixed as aforesaid, the quarrying of stone, or the burning of lime or charcoal, or the collection or subjection to any manufacturing process, or removal of, any forest produce in any such forest, and the breaking up or clearing for cultivation, for building, for herding cattle or for any other purpose, of any land in any such forest.

31. Publication of translation of such notification in neighbourhood.

31. Publication of translation of such notification in neighbourhood.—The Collector shall cause a translation into the local vernacular of every notification issued under Section 30 to be affixed in a conspicuous place in every town and village in the neighbourhood of the forest comprised in the notification.

32. Power to make rules for protected forests.

32. Power to make rules for protected forests.—The State Government may make rules to regulate the following matters, namely:—

(a) the cutting, sawing, conversion and removal of trees and timber, and the collection, manufacture and removal of forest-produce, from protected forests;

(b) the granting of licences to the inhabitants of towns and villages in the vicinity of protected forests to take trees, timber or other forest-produce for their own use, and the production and return of such licences by such persons;

(c) the granting of licences to persons felling or removing trees or timber or other forest-produce from such forests for the purposes of trade, and the production and return of such licences by such persons;

(d) the payments, if any, to be made by the persons mentioned in clauses (b) and (c) for permission to cut such trees, or to collect and remove such timber or other forest-produce;

(e) the other payments, if any, to be made by them in respect of such trees, timber and produce, and the places where such payment shall be made;

(f) the examination of forest-produce passing out of such forests;

(g) the clearing and breaking up of land for cultivation or other purposes in such forests;

(h) the protection form fire of timber lying in such forests and of trees reserved under Section 30;

(i) the cutting of grass and pasturing of cattle in such forests;

(j) hunting, shooting, fishing, poisoning water and setting traps or snares in such forests and the killing or catching of elephants in such forests in areas in which the Elephants’ Preservation Act, 1879 (6 of 1879), is not in force;

(k) the protection and management of any portion of a forest closed under Section 30; and

(l) the exercise of rights referred to in Section 29.

33. Penalties for acts in contravention of notification under Section 30 or of rules under Section 32.

33. Penalties for acts in contravention of notification under Section 30 or of rules under Section 32.—(1) Any person who commits any of the following offences, namely:—

(a) fells, girdles, lops, taps or burns any tree reserved under Section 30, or strips off the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, any such tree;

(b) contrary to any prohibition under Section 30, quarries any stone, or burns any lime or charcoal or collects, subjects to any manufacturing process, or removes any forest-produce;

(c) contrary to any prohibition under Section 30, breaks up or clears for cultivation or any other purpose any land in any protected forest;

(d) sets fire to such forest, or kindles a fire without taking all reasonable precautions to prevent its spreading to any tree reserved under Section 30, whether standing fallen or foiled, or to say closed portion of such forest;

(e) leaves burning any fire kindled by him in the vicinity of any such tree or closed portion;

(f) fells any tree or drags any timber so as to damage any tree reserved as aforesaid;

(g) permits cattle to damage any such tree;

(h) infringes any rule made under Section 32,

shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.

(2) Whenever fire is caused wilfully or by gross negligence in a protected forest, the State Government may, notwithstanding that any penalty has been inflicted under this section, direct that in such forest or any portion thereof the exercise of any right of pasture or to forest-produce shall be suspended for such period as it thinks fit.

34. Nothing in this Chapter to prohibit acts done in certain cases.

34. Nothing in this Chapter to prohibit acts done in certain cases.—Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to prohibit any act done with the permission in writing of the Forest-officer, or in accordance with rules made under Section 32, or, except as regards any portion of a forest closed under Section 30, or as regards any rights the exercise of which has been suspended under Section 33, in the exercise of any right recorded under Section 29.

Chapter V

OF THE CONTROL OVER FORESTS AND LANDS NOT BEING THE PROPERTY OF GOVERNMENT

35. Protection of forests for special purposes.

35. Protection of forests for special purposes.—(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, regulate or prohibit in any forest or waste-land—

(a) the breaking up or clearing of land for cultivation;

(b) the pasturing of cattle; or

(c) the firing or clearing of the vegetation,

when such regulation or prohibition appears necessary for any of the following purposes:—

(i) for protection against storms, winds, rolling stones, floods and avalanches;

(ii) for the preservation of the soil on the ridges and slopes and in the valleys of hilly tracts, the prevention of landslips or of the formation of ravines, and torrents, or the protection of land against erosion, or the deposit thereon of sand, stones or gravel;

(iii) for the maintenance of a water-supply in springs, rivers and tanks;

(iv) for the protection of roads, bridges, railways and other lines of communication;

(v) for the preservation of the public health.

(2) The State Government may, for any such purpose, construct at its own expense, in or upon any forest or waste-land, such work as it thinks fit.

(3) No notification shall be made under sub-section (1) nor shall any work be begun under sub-section (2), until after the issue of a notice to the owner of such forest or land calling on him to show cause, within a reasonable period to be specified in such notice, why such notification should not be made or work constructed, as the case may be, and until his objections, if any, and any evidence he may produce in support of the same, have been heard by an officer duly appointed in that behalf and have been considered by the State Government.

36. Power to assume management of forests.

36. Power to assume management of forests.—(1) In case of neglect of, or wilful disobedience to any regulation or prohibition under Section 35, or if the purposes of any work to be constructed under that section so require, the State Government may, after notice in writing to the owner of such forest or land and after considering his objections, if any, place the same under the control of a Forest-officer, and may declare that all or any of the provisions of this Act relating to reserved forests shall apply to such forest or land.

(2) The net profits, if any, arising from the management of such forest or land shall be paid to the said owner.

37. Expropriation of forests in certain cases.

37. Expropriation of forests in certain cases.—(1) In any case under this Chapter in which the State Government considers that, in lieu of placing the forest or land under the control of a Forest-officer, the same should be acquired for public purposes, the State Government may proceed to acquire it in the manner provided by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894).

(2) The owner of any forest or land comprised in any notification under Section 35 may, at any time not less than three or more than twelve years from the date thereof, require that such forest or land shall be acquired for public purposes, and the State Government shall acquire such forest or land accordingly.

38. Protection of forests at request of owners.

38. Protection of forests at request of owners.—(1) The owner of any land or, if there be more than one owner thereof, the owners of shares therein amounting in the aggregate to at least two-thirds thereof may, with a view to the formation or conservation of forests thereon, represent in writing to the Collector their desire—

(a) that such land be managed on their behalf by the Forest-officer as a reserved or a protected forest on such terms as may be mutually agreed upon; or

(b) that all or any of the provisions of this Act by applied such land.

(2) In either case, the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, apply to such land such provisions of this Act as it thinks suitable to the circumstances thereof and as may be desire by the applicants.

Chapter VI

OF THE DUTY ON TIMBER AND OTHER FOREST-PRODUCE

39. Power to impose duty on timber and other forest-produce.

39. Power to impose duty on timber and other forest-produce.—(1) The [i][Central Government] may levy a duty in such manner, at such places and at such rates as it may declare by notification in the Official Gazette on all timber or other forest-produce—

(a) which is produced in [ii][the territories to which this Act extends], and in respect of which the Government has any right;

(b) which is brought from any place outside [iii][the territories to which this Act extends].

[iv][* * *]

(2) In every case in which such duty is directed to be levied ad valorem the [v][Central Government] may fix by like notification the value on which such duty shall be assessed.

(3) All duties on timber or other forest-produce which, at the time when this Act comes into force in any territory, are levied therein under the authority of the State Government, shall be deemed to be and to have been duly levied under the provisions of this Act.

[vi][(4) Notwithstanding anything in this section, the State Government may, until provision to the contrary is made by [vii][Parliament], continue to levy any duty which it was lawfully levying before the commencements[viii] of [ix][the Constitution], under this section as then in force:

Provided that nothing in this sub-section authorises the levy of any duty which as between timber or other forest-produce of the State and similar produce of the locality outside the State, discriminates in favour of the former, or which, in the case of timber or other forest-produce of localities outside the State, discriminates between timber or other forest-produce of one locality and similar timber or other forest-produce of another locality.]

 

Other Contents of Forest Act, 1927

Sections 1 to 27 Sections 28 to 51 Sections 52 to 86 and Schedule Note: Please check State Amendments, if any, of your state.

 

40. Limit not to apply to purchase-money or royalty.

40. Limit not to apply to purchase-money or royalty.—Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to limit the amount, if any, chargeable as purchase-money or royalty on any timber or other forest-produce, although the same is levied on such timber or produce while in transit, in the same manner as duty is levied.

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. Power to make rules to regulate transit of forest produce.—(1) The control of all rivers and their banks as regards the floating of timber, as well as the control of all timber and other forest-produce in transit by land or water, is vested in the State Government, and it may make rules to regulate the transit of all timber and other forest-produce.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power such rules may—

(a) prescribe the routes by which alone timber or other forest-produce may be imported exported or moved into, from or within [x][the State];

(b) prohibit the import or export or moving of such timber or other produce without a pass from an officer duly authorised to issue the same, or otherwise than in accordance with the conditions of such pass;

(c) provide for the issue, production and return of such passes and for the payment of fees therefor;

(d) provide for the stoppage, reporting, examination and marking of timber or other forest-produce in transit, in respect of which there is reason to believe that any money in payable to the Government on account of the price thereof, or on account of any duty, fee, royalty or charge Government on account of the price thereof, or on account of any duty, fee, royalty or charge due thereon, or, to which it is desirable for the purposes of this Act to affix a mark;

(e) provide for the establishment and regulation of depots to which such timber or other produce shall be taken by those in charge of it for examination, or for the payment of such money, or in order that such marks may be affixed to it, and the conditions under which such timber or other produce shall be brought to, stored at and removed from such depots;

(f) prohibit the closing up or obstructing of the channel or banks of any river used for the transit of timber or other forest-produce, and the throwing of grass, brushwood, branches or leaves into any such river or any act which may cause such river to be closed or obstructed;

(g) provide for the prevention or removal of any obstruction of the channel or banks of any such river, and for recovering the cost of such prevention or removal from the person whose acts or negligence necessitated the same;

(h) prohibit absolutely or subject to conditions, within specified local limits, the establishment or sawpits, the converting, cutting, burning, concealing or making of timber the altering or effacing of any marks on the same, or the possession or carrying of marking hammers or other implements used for marking timber;

(i) regulate the use of property marks for timber, and the registration of such marks; prescribe the time for which such registration shall hold good; limit the number of such marks that may be registered by any one person, and provide for the levy of fees for such registration.

(3) The State Government may direct that any rule made under this section shall not apply to any specified class of timber or other forest-produce or to any specified local area.

41-A. Powers of Central Government as to movements of timber across customs frontiers.

[xi][41-A. Powers of Central Government as to movements of timber across customs frontiers.—Notwithstanding anything in Section 41, the Central Government may make rules to prescribe the route by which alone timber or other forest-produce may be imported, exported or moved into or from [xii][the territories to which this Act extends] across any customs frontier as defined by the Central Government, and any rules made under Section 41 shall have effect subject to the rules made under this section.]

42. Penalty for breach of rules made under Section 41.

42. Penalty for breach of rules made under Section 41.—(1) The State Government may by such rules prescribe as penalties for the contravention thereof imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or both.

(2) Such rules may provide that penalties which are double of those mentioned in sub-section (1) may be inflicted in cases where the offence is committed after sunset and before sunrise, or after preparation for resistance to lawful authority, or where the offender has been previously convicted of a like offence.

43. Government and Forest-officers not liable for damage to forest-produce at depot.

43. Government and Forest-officers not liable for damage to forest-produce at depot.—The Government shall not be responsible for any loss or damage which may occur in respect of any timber or other forest-produce while at a depot established under a rule made under Section 41, or while detained elsewhere, for the purposes of this Act; and no Forest-officer shall be responsible for any such loss or damage, unless he causes such loss or damage negligently, maliciously or fraudulently.

44. All persons bound to aid in case of accidents at depot.

44. All persons bound to aid in case of accidents at depot.—In case of any accident or emergency involving danger to any property at any such depot, every person employed at such depot, whether by the Government or by any private person, shall render assistance to any Forest-officer or Police-officer demanding his aid in averting such danger or securing such property from damage or loss.

Chapter VIII

OF THE COLLECTION OF DRIFT AND STRANDED TIMBER

45. Certain kinds of timber to be deemed property of Government until title thereto proved, and may be collected accordingly.

45. Certain kinds of timber to be deemed property of Government until title thereto proved, and may be collected accordingly.—(1) All timber found adrift, beached, stranded or sunk—

all wood or timber bearing marks which have not been registered in accordance with the rule made under Section 41, or on which the marks have been obliterated, altered or defaced by fire or otherwise; and

in such areas as the State Government directs, all unmarked wood and timber, shall be deemed to be the property of Government, unless and until any person establishes his right and title thereto, as provided in this Chapter.

(2) Such timber may be collected by any Forest-officer or other person entitled to collect the same by virtue of any rule made under Section 51 and may be brought to any depot which the Forest-officer may notify as a depot for the reception of drift timber.

(3) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, exempt any class of timber from the provisions of this section.

46. Notice to claimants of drift timber.

46. Notice to claimants of drift timber.—Public notice shall from time to time be given by the Forest-officer, of timber collected under Section 45. Such notice shall contain a description of the timber, and shall require any person claiming the same to present to such officer, within a period not less than two months from the date of such notice, a written statement of such claim.

47. Procedure on claim preferred to such timber.

47. Procedure on claim preferred to such timber.—(1) When any such statement is presented as aforesaid, the Forest-officer may, after making such inquiry as he thinks fit, either reject the claim after according his reasons for so doing, or deliver the timber to the claimant.

(2) If such timber is claimed by more than one person, the Forest-officer may either deliver the same to any of such persons who he deems entitled thereto, or may refer the claimants to the Civil Courts, and retain the timber pending the receipt of an order form any such Court for its disposal.

(3) Any person whose claim has been rejected under this section may, within three months from the date of such rejection, institute a suit to recover possession of the timber claimed by him; but no person shall recover any compensation or costs against the Government, or against any Forest-officer on account of such rejection, or the detention or removal of any timber, or the delivery thereof to any other person under this section.

(4) No such timber shall be subject to process of any Civil, Criminal or Revenue Court until it has been delivered, or a suit has been brought, as provided in this section.

48. Disposal of unclaimed timber.

48. Disposal of unclaimed timber.—If no such statement is presented as aforesaid, or if the claimant omits to prefer is claim in the manner and within the period fixed by the notice issued under Section 46, or on such claim having been so preferred by him and having been rejected, omits to institute a suit to recover possession of such timber within the further period fixed by Section 47, the ownership of such timber shall vest in the Government, or, when such timber has been delivered to another person under Section 47, in such other person free from all encumbrances not created by him.

49. Government and its officers not liable for damage to such timber.

49. Government and its officers not liable for damage to such timber.—The Government shall not be responsible for any loss or damage which may occur in respect of any timber collected under Section 45, and no Forest-officer shall be responsible for any such loss or damage, unless he causes such loss or damage negligently, maliciously or fraudulently.

50. Payments to be made by claimant before timber is delivered to him.

50. Payments to be made by claimant before timber is delivered to him.—No person shall be entitled to recover possession of any timber collected or delivered as aforesaid until he has paid to the Forest-officer or other person entitled to receive it such sum on account thereof as may be due under any rule made under Section 51.

51. Power to make rules and prescribe penalties.

51. Power to make rules and prescribe penalties.—(1) The State Government may [xiii][, by notification in the Official Gazette,] make rules to regulate the following matters, namely:—

(a) the salving, collection and disposal of all timber mentioned in Section 45;

(b) the use and registration of boats used in salving and collecting timber;

(c) the amounts to be paid or salving, collecting, moving, storing or disposing of such timber; and

(d) the use and registration of hammers and other instruments to be used for marking such timber.

[xiv][(1-A) Every rule made by the State Government under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the State Legislature.]

(2) The State Government may prescribe, as penalties for the contravention of any rules made under this section, imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or both.

References

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