HC upholds Maha govt's private forest plan

In a decision that will affect the status of over 100 acres of land in North Mumbai suburbs, the Bombay High Court on Monday upheld Maharashtra government's action of declaring a host of private lands as private forests.

As a result, the government can now proceed with the acquisition of these lands under the Maharashtra Private Forests Acquisition of Land Act, 1975, advocate Nitin Deshpande, additional government pleader, said.

The government had issued notices to the owners of these lands, mostly builders situated in Kandivali, Mulund and Borivali, terming them to be private forests, and therefore suitable for acquisition by the forest department.

A bunch of petitions filed by several builders had challenged these notices. The division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice SC Dharmadhikari today dismissed these petitions, holding government's action valid.