 "SC vacates Madras High Court's interim order staying patta under FRA")
At a time when the Forest Rights Act is being implemented across the country, it had come to a standstill in the State of Tamil Nadu, as the Madras High Court had passed an interim order dated April 30, 2008 under which the High Court had directed that no patta or title under FRA shall be issued without its permission.
Following this, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs filed a petition for transfer of the writ petition to the Supreme Court and also filed a Special Leave Petition against the interim order of the High Court. The Ministry also requested the Government of Tamil Nadu to file an application for vacation of the interim order.
A three judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justice Jasti Chelameswar, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre and Justice Amitava Roy heard the matter this week. P S Narasimha, additional solicitor general appeard for the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs submitted that when the FRA is being implemented across the country, there is no need for an order to restrict its operation in only one State. The bench passed an order setting aside the interim order of Madras High Court, which was under challenge.
So far, around 44.12 lakh claims have been filed and more than 17.10 lakh titles have been distributed in the various States with the exception of the State of Tamil Nadu, where the implementation of FRA has been at a standstill.
Though 21,781 claims have been filed in the State of Tamil Nadu and 3,723 titles are ready for distribution, the State Government had, till now, not been able to distribute the titles due to the stay order of the Madras High Court being in force, said an announcement by the central government.
With the vacation of the interim order, it is anticipated that the filing and processing of claims and recognition of forest rights in the State of Tamil Nadu will gather speed and the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and the other traditional forest dwellers in the State of Tamil Nadu can look forward to their forest rights being finally recognised, vested and recorded, it added.
