- (1.) In this appeal, the order of a Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala in M.F.A. No. 513 of 1985, dated October 3, 1990, is brought under challenge.
(2.) The proceedings arise out of the Kerala Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971 (for short, 'the Forest Act') which came into force on May 10, 1971. Section 3 of the Forest Act is a vesting section which says, inter alia, that notwithstandng anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, or in any contract or other document with effect on and from the appointed day (10-5-1971) the ownership and possession of all private forests in the State of Kerala shall by virtue of that Act stand transferred to and vested in the Government free from all encumbrances, and the right, title and interest of the owner or any other person in any private forest shall stand extinguished. This provision is subject to sub-sections (2) and (3) of Section 3 with which we are not concerned here.
(3.) For understanding the scope of this provision, it is necessary to examine the definition of the expression 'private forest' in clause (f) of Section 2 of the Forest Act. The relevant provision of the definition reads as under : "(f) "private forest" means (1) in relation to the Malabar district referred to in sub-section (2) of Section 5 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 (Central Act 37 of 1956) - (i) any land which the Madras Preservation of Private Forest Act, 1949 (Madras Act XXVII of 1949), applied immediately before the appointed day excluding- (A) land which are gardens or nilams as defined in the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (1 of 1964). (B) lands which are used principally for the cultivation of tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, cardamom or cinnamon and lands used for any purpose ancillary to the cultivation of such crops or for the preparation of the same for the market.";