- (1.) The primary relief sought in the instant petition is in the following terms: "(i) issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding the Divisional Forest Officer, Renukoot, Sonbhadra and its officials not to dispossess and interfere in the peaceful possession of petitioner over plot no. 152 area 6 Biswa situate in village Parasi, Post- Anpara, Cinema Road, Anpara, District - Sonbhadra."
(2.) The claim of the petitioner rests upon an order dated 28 May 1990 said to have been passed by the Forest Settlement Officer, Pipri Sonebhadra excluding Plot No. 152 from the boundaries of a proposed reserved forest. It is then averred that the plot itself was acquired by the Union Government under the provisions of the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development ) Act, 1957. Consequent to the said acquisition and as the relevant revenue record would reveal the plot in question stands recorded in the name of Northern Coal Fields Limited. The petitioner then refers to an alleged compromise entered into between the tenure holders and the Northern Coal Fields Limited in 1982 for the purposes of compensation and additional compensation. Claiming possession over a certain part of Plot No. 152 as being in his occupation, the petitioner is stated to have filed O.S. No. 15 of 2009 which is stated to have been decreed on 4 May 2012 with the Civil Judge (J.D.), Duddhi, Sonbhadra granting a permanent injunction restraining the defendants in the suit from interfering in his possession.
(3.) From the material on record, it is apparent that the land in question stands recorded in the name of Northern Coal Fields Limited. This fact is not disputed even by the learned counsel for the petitioner. Additionally, we may note that although the petitioner refers to an order dated 28 May 1990 having been passed by the Forest Settlement Officer ordering exclusion of the plot from the boundaries reserved for the proposed forest, no order of the Additional District Judge has been brought on record ratifying the said order in terms of the procedure laid down by the Supreme Court in Banwasi Seva Ashram Vs. State of U.P. and Others, 1986 4 SCC 753. We may note that a detailed procedure had been prescribed and laid down by the Supreme Court in Banwasi Seva Ashram with respect to the disposal of claims under the Indian Forest Act, 1927. Paragraph 10(2)III and 10(3), which are relevant for our purposes, are extracted hereunder: "10(2)III. After the Forest Settlement Officer has done the needful under the provisions of the Act, the findings with the requisite papers shall be placed before the Additional District Judge of the area even though no appeal is filed and the same shall be scrutinized as if an appeal has been taken against the order of the authority and the order of the Additional District Judge passed therein shall be taken to be the order contemplated under the Act. 10(3). When the Appellant Authority finds that the claim is admissible, the State Government shall (and it is agreed before us) honour the said decision and proceed to implement the same. Status quo in regard to possession in respect of lands covered by the notification under Section 4 shall continue as at present until the determination by the appellate authority and no notification under Section 20 of the Act shall be made in regard to these lands until such appellate decision has been made.";