New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that it is the spirit of the forest, which moves the earth and despite the unblemished, selfless and motherly service rendered by forests, man in his folly continues with their destruction. A bench comprising justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti said human beings indulge themselves in selective amnesia when it comes to fathom the significance of forests.
Justice Sundresh, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said it’s the spirit of the forest that moves the earth and history shall not be understood from the jaundiced eyes of humans, but through the prism of the environment, the forest in particular.
The bench said the “invisible services” rendered by forests ought to be given due credit and depletion and disappearance of forests would ultimately lead to a massive extinction of organisms. “Appreciation of this fact shall come from the point of view of a species rather than through the prism of a state or a nation”, it said, in a judgment delivered on April 18.
The bench stressed that forests not only provide for and facilitate the sustenance of life, but they also continue to protect and foster it, and “despite the unblemished, selfless and motherly service rendered by forests, a man in his folly continues with their destruction, unmindful of the fact that he is inadvertently destroying himself”.
The bench said that forests also play a pivotal role in controlling pollution, which significantly affects the underprivileged, violating their right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution of India, 1950. Justice Sundresh said that it is the vulnerable sections of society, who would be most affected by the depletion of forests because the more affluent sections of society have better access to resources compared to them.
The bench said man being an enlightened species, is expected to act as a trustee of the earth and it is not his right to destroy the habitat of other species but his duty to protect them from further peril. The bench said a right to enjoy cannot be restricted to any specific group, and so also to human beings and the time has come for mankind to live sustainably and respect the rights of rivers, lakes, beaches, estuaries, ridges, trees, mountains, seas and air.
“Man is bound by nature’s law. Therefore, the need of the hour is to transform from an anthropocentric approach to an eco-centric approach which will encompass a wider perspective in the interest of the environment…a difference of one and a half degrees Celsius in temperature saves the global economy tens of trillions of dollars. We must realise that carbon emissions not only come from industrial activities but also from agriculture. Such functions are to be valued for assessing forest wealth”, said the bench.
The bench pointed at a recent report of the Reserve Bank of India, which presented a very disturbing scenario and suggested the enormous potential impact of climate change on society, leading to serious job losses in every sector. “Therefore, the adverse effect will be on the future of the nation as a whole, as against an identifiable group”, it said.
The apex court set aside a Telangana High Court judgment, which declared 106.34-acre forest land in Warangal district as private, but slammed it for “graciously gifting” it to a private person, who could not prove his title. The bench also pulled up state officials for abdicating their duty to protect forest land and imposed costs of Rs 5 lakhs on the Telangana government for filing incorrect affidavits in the case.
“We consider it appropriate to impose a cost of Rs 5,00,000 each on appellants and respondents to be paid to the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) within two months from the date of this judgment. The appellant state is free to enquire into the lapses committed by the officers in filing collusive affidavits before the competent court, and recover the same from those officers, who are responsible for facilitating and filing incorrect affidavits in the ongoing proceedings”, said the bench.
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