STATE OF BIHAR versus LT. COL. K. S. R. SWAMI

Citation: [1962] 3 S.C.R. 727 · Decided: 22-09-1961 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: K.N. WANCHOO · Disposal: Dismissed

Judgment (excerpt)

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3 S.C.R. 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
727 
STATE OF BIHAR 
v. 
LT. COL. K. S. R, SWAMI 
(K. N. WANOHOO, K. C. DAS GUPTA 
and 
J. c. SHAH, JJ.) 
Forest Land-Reclamation-Whether Collector's or Fore&t 
Officer's order should prwail--Extinction of rights-When takes 
plaoo-Bihar Private 
Forest Act, 1947 (Bihar 9 of 1948), 
•· 30, Prouiso-Bihar Protected Forest Ruka, rr. 1 to 4, 8. 
The respondent was the tenant of a tract of land which 
formed part of a forest and continued to remain in possession 
thereof after the Zemindari interest of the proprietor became 
vested 
in the State Government under the Bihar Land 
Reforms Act, 1952. The Government notified its intention to 
constitute the forest a private protected forest and by a 
subsequent notification under s. 30 of the Indian Forest Act 
prohibited the breaking up or cleaning the land of this and 
certain other "protected forests" for cultivation whereupon 
the employees of the Forest Department started interfering 
with the agricultural operations carried on by the respondent. 
The respondent then sought the permission of the Collector 
to start reclamation and cultivation of this area and the 
Collector gave him permission to "go ahead with the work of 
reclamation and cultivation of this area." The forest officer 
disregarded the Collector's order and made the respondent 
stop 
recla~tion. Ultimately the 
Government 
interfered 
insisting on the withdrawal of the Collector's order. The 
questions which arose for decision in this case was whether (I) 
the order passed by the Forest officer on the basis of rule 4 
of the Bihar Protected Forest Rules, which prohibited the 
cutting or removal of trees without the permission of the 
Forest Officer should prevail over the permission granted by 
the Collector under r. 8 and (2) whether the respondent's 
right to the land had ceased under s. 19 of the Bihar Private 
Forests Act. 
Held, that rr. 1 to 4 apply to the cutting or removal of 
trees where inspite of such cutting the forest would remain a 
forest but those rules did not control the cutting of trees which 
would be necessary for clearing the land for cultivation or any 
other purpose which was controlled only by r. 8. In the 
present case the permission given by the Collector under r. 8 
was in accordance with law and neither the Forest Officer nor 
the Government had any authority in law to interfere with 
that permission for the clearing or cultivation of the land. 
The extinction of rights under s. 19 of the Act could 
take place only after the publication of the final notification 
1961 
Sepi.mblr 22. 
1961 
Stat1 of Bihar 
LI. Col. K. S. R. 
SrHmi 
Du Gu;taJ. 
• 
728 
SUPREME COURf REPORTS 
[1002] 
under s. 30 ancl not by a notification under the proviso 
thereof pending 
the completion of enquiries under the 
provisions of the Act. 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appc&l 
No. 3ii4 of 1957. 
Appeal from the judgment and decree dated 
October 7, 1955, of the Patna High Court in Misc. 
Judicial Case No. 422 of 1954. 
L. K. Jlia, D. P. Singh, R. K. Garg, 1lf. K. 
Ramamurthi and S. C. Agarwala, for the appellant.a. 
B. K. P. Sinha and A. G. Ratnaparkhi, for 
respondent. 
1961. September 22. The Judgment of tho 
Court was dolivl'red by 
DA.s GUPTA, J.~This appeal by the Sta.to of 
Bihar challenges the correctness of an order madti 
by the High Court at Patna in an application by 
the respondent under Art. 226 of the con;titution. 
The respondent was inducted as a tenant on a 
tract of land measuring :!45.69 acres in village 
Singpur by tho then proprietor in ~ovcmber, 1945, 
and con tinned to remain in possession after the 
Zemindari interest of the proprietor bccamo vel!tcd 
in the State of Bihar in consequence of a notifica-
tion under the Bihar Land Reforms Act (Bihar Act 
XXX of 1952) on the 30th December, 1952. 
In 
1945 this area was forest land. On Septcmb~r 15, 
1946, a notification was published under section 14 
of thll Biha.r Pri\•ate Forest Act, 1946 declaring 
tho Government's intention of constituting the 
forest a private protected forest. 
By the same 
notification the Governor further ordered that 
until the publication of a notification under s. 30 
of the Act all the rights to cut, collect and remove 
trees or any class of troos in or from the forest 
shall cease to exist subject to conditions .and speci· 
fications specified in the Second Schedule. The 
result of tm~ notilka.tion was that immediately on 
its publication in the Governm

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