The ASSAM FOREST REGULATION 1891 (7 of 1891)

(j) 
ASSAM FOREST REGULATION 1891 (7 of 1891) 
1.Amended by the ASSAM FOREST REGULATION (Amendment) Act 2005(Act no 2 of 2008) 
[Assented by the Governor of AP on 28.02.2008 and published in AP EOG No 13 Vol XV Dtd 
03.03.2008 [wef 04/09/2008 VIDE AP EOG NO 88 VIL XV DTD 18/09/2008] 
A REGULATION TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO FORESTS, 
FOREST PRODUCE AND THE DUTY LEVIABLE ON TIMBER IN 
ASSAM. 
Whereas it is expedient to amend the Law relating to forests, 
forest produce and the duty liveable on timber in-Assam, it is 
hereby enacted as follows : 
CHAPTER - I 
I. (1) This Regulation may be called the Assam Forest Regulation, 
1891. 
(2) It extends to [the whole of the Union Territory of Arunachal 
Pradesh 
Provided that the [State]2 Government may by notification in 
the Arunachal Pradesh]' Gazette. exempt any place, from the 
operation of the whole or any part thereof and withdraw such 
exemption; and 
(3) It shall come into force on such day as the [State]2 Government, 
by notification in the [Arunachal Pradesh]? Gazette directs : 
(4). A notification under the proviso to sub-section (2) exempting a 
place from the operation of the whole or any pan of the Regulation 
shall not affect anything done, or any offence committed, or any fine 
or penalty imposed in such place before such exemption. 
2. Repealed by Act I of 1938. 
3. In this Regulation and in all rules there under, Unless something 
repugnant in tie subject or context,- 
( 1) "Forest Officer" means any person appointed by name or 
as holding an office by or under the orders of the [State] 
Government to be a Conservator, Deputy Conservator, Assistant 
Conservator, Sub-Assistant Conservator, Forest Ranger, Forester 
or Forest Guard, or to discharge any function 
of a Forest Officer under this Regulation or any rule thereunder; 
(2) "tree" includes palms, bamboos, stumps, brush - wood 
and canes: 
I. Substituted for "the whole of the territories administered by the 
Government of Assam', by NEA ( Reorn) (APA) ALO 1914. 
2. Substituted for "Provincial" by ALO, 1950. 
3. Substituted for "Official" by NEA ( Reorn) (AP)ALO, 1974. 
*[(3) "timber" means trees when they have fallen or have been 
felled or all wood, whether cut out or fashioned or hollowed out for 
any purpose or not and includes trees when cut into pieces or sizes 
or peeled out or sliced out (Veneer) for manufacturing of ply board, 
block board or any other purposes or not] 
*{Substituted by 2005 (Amd) Act (Act no 2 of 2008. s.2} 
(4) "forest produce" includes:- 
(a) the following, whether found in, or brought from, a forest or not, 
that is to say,- timber, charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, wood-oil, 
resin, natural varnish, hard lac, myrabolams, rhinoceros horns, and 
(b) the following when found in, or brought from a forest, that is to 
say:- 
1. trees and leaves, and fruits, and al.[ other parts or produce not 
Title, Extent anr. 
commencement. 
Repeal, saving of 
rules and other 
proceedings 
Definitions. 

herein before mentioned of trees, 
11. plants not being trees (including grass, creepers, reeds and 
moss), and all parts or Produce of such plants, 
111. wild animals and skins, tusks and horns, bones other than 
rhinoceros horns, silk, cocoons, honey and wax, and all other 
Parts of produce of animals, and 
rv. peat, surface soil, rock and minerals (including limestone, 
laterite, mineral oils and products of mines or quarries), 
(5) "forest offence" means and offence punishable under this 
Regulation or any rule thereunder: 
(6) "cattle" includes also elephants, buffaloes, horses, mares, 
geldings, ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, and 
sheep. lambs, goats and kids ; 
(7) "river" includes also streams, canals, creeks, and other 
channels, natural or artificial : 
(8) "land at the disposal of the Government" means land in respect 
of which no person has acquired- 
a. a permanent, heritable and transferable right of use and 
occupancy under law for the time being in force; or 
b. any right created by grant or lease made or continued by or 
on behalf of the [Government]1 not being land vested for the 
purposes of the Central Government: and 
(9) "Magistrate" means a Magistrate of the first or second class, 
when he is specially empowered by the [State]1 Government to try 
forest offences. 
Substituted for "Crown" by ALO' 1950. 
Substituted for "Provincial" by ALO, 1950 
CHAPTER - 11 
RESERVED FOREST 
4. The [State]1 Government may constitute any land at the disposal 
of the Government a reserved forest in manner hereinafter 
provided. 
5. (I) Whenever it is proposed to constitute any land a reserved 
forest, the (state]1 Government shall publish a notification in the 
[Arunachal Pradesh]2 Gazette,- 
(a) specifying as nearly as possible the situation and 
limits of such land; 
(b) declaring that it is proposed to constitute such land a 
reserved forest : and 
(c) appointing an officer (hereinafter called the Forest 
Settlement Officer) to inquire in and determine the existence, nature 
and extent of any rights claimed by, or alleged to exist in favour of, 
any person in or over any land comprised within such limits, and 
any claims relating to the practice within such limit of jhum 
cultivation, and to deal with the same as provided in this chapter. 
(2) The Forest Settlement Officer shall ordinarily be a person other 
than a Forest Officer, but a Forest Officer may be appointed by the 
(State)1 Government to assist, the Forest settlement Officer in the 
inquiry prescribed by this chapter. 
6. When a notification has been published under section 5, the 
Power to constitute 
Reserved forests. 
Notification by State 
Government of 
proposal to 
constitute a reservec 
forest. 
Proclamation by 

Forest Settlement Officer shall publish in the languages of the 
country, at the headquarters of each district and sub-division in 
which any portion of the land comprised in such notification is 
situate, and in every town and village in the neighbourhood of such 
land a proclamation- 
(a) specifying as nearly as possible the situation and limits of 
the proposed forests ; · 
(b) setting forth the substance of the provisions of the next 
following section ; 
1. Substituted for "Provincial" by ALO, 1950. 
2. Substituted for "Official" by NEA(Reorg) (AP) ALO. 1974 
(c) explaining the consequences which as hereinafter 
provided, will ensure on the reservation of such forest ; and, 
(d) fixing a period of not less than three months from the date 
of the publication of such proclamation and requiring every person 
claiming any right or making any claim referred to or mentioned in 
section 5 either to present to such officer within such period written 
notice specifying, or to appear before him such period and state the 
nature of such right or claim. 
7. (I) During the interval between the publication of such 
proclamation and the date fixed by the notification declaring the 
forest to be reserved as herein after provided, no right shall be 
acquired in or over the land comprised in such notification, except 
by succession or under a grant or contract in writing made or 
entered into by, or on behalf of the (Government)1 or some person 
in whom such right or power to create such right was vested when 
the proclamation was published ; and on such land no new house 
shall be built or plantation formed, no fresh clearings for cultivation 
or for any other purpose shall be made, and no trees shall be cut for 
the purpose of trade or manufacture accept as hereinafter provided. 
(2) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit any act 
done with the permission in writing of the Forest Settlement Officer, 
or any clearings lawfully for jhum cultivation by persons in the habit 
of practising such cultivation on such land. 
8. (I) The Forest Settlement Officer shall take down in writing all 
statements made under section 6, and shall inquire in to all claims 
made under that section, and the existence of any right or practice 
mentioned in section 5 in respect of which on claim is made. 
(2) The Forest Settlement Officer shall at the same time 
consider and record any objection which the Forest Officer, if any 
appointed under section 5 to assist him, may make to any such 
claim or with respect to the existence of any such right or practice. 
9. For the purposes of such inquiry the Forest Settlement Officer 
may exercise- 
(a) power to enter, by himself or any officer authorised by him 
for the purpose, upon any land, and to survey, demarcate, and 
make a map of the same; and 
(b) the powers of a Civil Court in the trial of suits. 
10. (I) In the case of a claim relating to the practice of jhum 
cultivation of Forest Settlement Officer shall record a statement 
setting forth the particulars of the claim and of any local rule or order 
under which the practice is allowed or regulated, and submit the 
Forest Settlement 
Officer. 
Bar of accrual of 
forest rights after 
proclamation. 
Inquiry by Forest 
Settlement Officer 
Powers of Forest 
Settlement Officer. 
Treatment of claims 
relating to practice of 
jhum cultivation. 

statement to the [State]1 Government, together with his opinion as 
to whether the practice should be permitted or prohibited wholly or 
in part. 
(2) On receipt of the statement and oprruon the (state]1 
Government may make an order permitting or prohibiting the 
practice wholly or in part. 
(3) If such practice is permitted wholly or in part, the Forest 
Settlement Officer may arrange for its exercise- 
a. by altering the limits of the land under settlement so as to 
exclude land of sufficient extent of a suitable kind, and in a 
locality, reasonably convenient for the purposes of the 
claimants, or 
b. by causing certain portions of the land under settlement to be 
separately demarcated, and giving permission to the 
claimants to practise jhum cultivation therein under such 
conditions as he may prescribe. 
All arrangements made under this sub-section shall be 
subject to the previous sanction of the [State) 1 Government. 
(4) The practice of Jhum cultivation shall in all cases be 
deemed to be a privilege subject to control, restriction, and abolition 
by the [State]' Government, and not to be a right. 
11. (I) In the case of a claim to a right in or over any land other than 
the following rights, namely:- 
a. a right of way. 
b. a right to watercourse or to use of water, 
c. a right of pasture or to forest produce, the Forest Settlement 
Officer shall pass an order specifying the particulars of such 
claim and admitting or rejecting the same wholly or in part. 
(2) If such claim is admitted wholly or in part, the Forest Settlement 
Officer may, - 
a. come to an agreement with the claimant for the surrender of 
the right, or 
b. exclude the land from the limits of the proposed forest, or 
c. proceed to acquire such land in the manner provided by the 
Land Acquisition Act, 1894. 
(3) For the purpose of so acquiring such land- 
1. the Forest Settlement Officer shall be deemed to be a 
Collector proceeding under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 ; 
11. the claimant shall be deemed to be a person interested and 
appearing before him in pursuance of a notice given under 
section 9 of that Act : 
111. the provisions of the proceeding section of that Act shall be 
deemed to have been complied with, and 
rv. the Collector, with the consent of the claimant, may award 
compensation in land or in money, or partly in land and partly 
in money. 
12. (I) In the case of a claim to a right of a kind specified in clause 
(a), clause (b) or clause (c) of section 11, sub-section (I), the Forest 
Settlement Officer shall pass an order specifying the particulars of 
each claim and admitting or rejecting the same wholly or in part. 
(2) When a claim to any such right is admitted, if the right is for 
the beneficial enjoyment of any land or building, the Forest 
Settlement Officer shall record the designation, position and area of 
such land or the designation and position of such building. 
(3) Where the right is a right to forest produce, the Forest 
Settlement Officer shall record whether the forest produce obtained 
Powers to acquire 
land over which right 
is claimed. 
Order on claims to 
right of way, water 
course or pasture, of 
forest produce. 

by the exercise of such right may be leased, sold, or bartered, and 
such other particulars as may be necessary in order to define the 
existence, nature, and extent of the right. 
13. (I) When the Forest Settlement Officer has admitted wholly or in 
part and recorded under the last foregoing section a claim to a right 
of pasture or to forest produce, he shall as far as possible provide 
for the exercise of such right- 
(a) by altering the limits of the proposed reserved forest so as 
to exclude land of sufficient extent, of a suitable kind, and 
in a locality reasonably convenient for the purposes of the 
claimant, or 
(b) by recording an order continuing to the claimant a right of 
pasture or to forest produce, as the case may be, subject 
to such rules as may be prescribed by the 
(State)1 Government. 
(2) An order passed under clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall 
record, as far as practicable,- 
(i) where the right is a right of pasture, the number and 
description of the cattle which the claimant is, from time k) time, 
entitled to graze, and the local limits within which, and the seasons 
during which such pasture is permitted, and 
(ii) where the right is a right to forest produce, the quantity of 
such produce which the claimant is authorised to take or receive 
and the local limits within which, the season during which and the 
mode in which the taking or receiving of such produce is permitted, 
and 
(iii) whether the right is a right of pasture or a right to forest 
produce, such other particulars as may be required in order to 
define the extent of the right which is continued, the mode in which 
it may be exercised, and the extent to which the benefit thereof may 
be leased, sold, or bartered. 
14. Whenever any right of pasture or to forest produce admitted 
under section 12 is not provided for in one of the ways prescribed in 
section 13 the Forest Settlement Officer shall subject to such rules 
as the [state]' Government may prescribe in this behalf, commute 
such right by paying a sum of money in lieu thereof, or, with the 
consent of the claimant, by the grant of land, or in such other 
manner as such officer thinks fit. 
15. Any person who has made a claim under this Chapter or any 
forest officer or other person generally or specially empowered by 
the [State]1 Government in this behalf, may within three months 
from the date of any order passed on such claim by the Forest 
Settlement Officer under sections 11, 12, 13, or 14. present an 
appeal from such order to such officer of the Revenue Department, 
of rank not lower than that of a Deputy Commissioner, as the 
[State]1 Government may, by notification in the [Arunachal 
Pradesh]2 Gazette, appoint by name, or as holding an office, to hear 
appeals from such orders. 
16. (1) Every appeal under the last foregoing section shall be made 
by petition in writing and may be delivered to the Forest Settlement 
Officer, who shall forward it without delay to the officer competent to 
hear the same. 
Provision for rights o' 
pasture or to forest 
produce admitted. 
Commutation 
such rights. 
of 
Appeal from order 
passed under 
Foregoing section. 
Appeal 
last 
section. 
under the 
foregoing 

2) Every such appeal shall be heard in the manner prescribed for 
the time being for the hearing of appeals in matters relating to 
revenue and, except as hereinafter provided' the order passed on 
the appeal shall be final. 
17. (I) when the following events have occurred namely,- 
(a) the period fixed under section 6 for preferring claims has 
elapsed, and all claims, if any, made within such period have been 
disposed of by the Forest Settlement Officer, and 
(b) if such claims have been made, the period fixed by section 
15 for appealing from the orders passed on such claims has 
elapsed, and all appeals, if any, Presented within such period have 
been disposed of by the appellate officer. and 
(c) all lands, if any, to be included in the proposed reserved 
forest which the Forest Settlement Officer has under section 11 ' ' elect to acquire under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 have become 
vested in the Government under that Act, 
the [State]1 Government may publish a notification in the [Arunachal 
Pradesh], Gazette, specifying the limits of the forest 
which it is intended to reserve and declaring the same to be 
reserved from a date fixed by such notification. 
(2) From the date as fixed such forest shall be deemed to be a 
reserved forest. 
18. Right in respect of which no claim has been preferred under 
section 6 and of the existence of which no knowledge has been 
acquired by inquiry under section 8 shall thereupon be extinguished, 
unless, before the publication of such notification, the person 
claiming them has satisfied the Forest Settlement Officer that he 
had sufficient cause for not preferring such claim within the period 
fixed under section 6. 
19. The Deputy Commissioner of the district in which the forest is 
situate shall, before the date fixed by such notification, caused a 
translation thereof in the language of the country to be published in 
the manner prescribed for the proclamation under section 6. 
20. The [State]1 Government may, within five years from the 
publication of any notification under section 17, revise any 
arrangement made under section 13 and 16 and may rescind or 
modify any order made under this Chapter, and direct that any one 
of the proceedings specified in section 13 be taken in lieu. of the 
other of such proceedings, or that a right admitted under section 12 
be commuted in the manner mentioned in section 14. 
21. No right of any description shall be acquired in or over a 
reserved forest, except by succession or under grant or contract in 
writing made by, or with the previous sanction, of the [State]1 
Government or some person in whom such right, or the power to 
create such right, was vested when the notification under section 17 
was published. 
1. Substituted for 'Provincial' by ALO, 1950. 
2. Substituted for 'Official' by NEA (Reorgn) (AP) ALO, 1974 
22. (I) Not withstanding anything herein contained, no right 
continued under section 13 shall be alienated by way of grant, sale, 
Notifications 
declaring fores: 
reserve. 
I of 1994. 
Extinction of rights 
not claimed. 
Publication of 
translation of such 
Notification Iii 
neighbourhood of 
forest. 
Power to revise 
Arrangement made 
under section 13 & 
16. 
Acquisition of rights 
over reserved forest. 
Alienation of right Iii 
reserved forest. 

lease, mo gage or otherwise without the previous sanction of the 
[State]' Government: 
Provided that, when any such rights is continued for the 
beneficial enjoyment of any land or building, it may be sold or 
otherwise alienated with such and or building without such sanction. 
(2) The benefit of any right continued under section 13 shall 
not be leased, sold or bartered except to the extent defined by the 
order recorded under that section, 
23. Any forest officer may from time to time, with the previous 
sanction of the [State] Government or of a forest officer or other 
officer authorised by the (State)1 Government in this behalf, stop 
any public or private way or watercourse in a reserved forest : 
Provided that for the way or watercourse so stopped another 
way or watercourse which, in the opinion of the [State]1 
Government, is equally convenient already exists or has been 
provided or constructed by the forest officer stopping the way or 
watercourse. 
24. Any person who in a reserved forest- 
a. trespasses, or Pastures cattle, or permits cattle to trespass, 
or 
b. causes any damage by negligence in felling any tree or 
cutting or dragging any timber,[shall be punished with fine 
which may extend to five thousand rupees or with 
imprisonment which may extend to one year or with both, or 
when the damage resulting from his offence amounts to more 
than one thousand rupees, with fine which is not less than 
five thousand rupees or with imprisonment which is not less 
than one year but may extend to three years or with both.] 
*{Substituted by 2005 (Amd) Act (Act no 2 of 2008. s.3} 
25. Any person who- 
a. makes any fresh clearing prohibited by section 7, or 
b. sets fire to a reserved forest, or in contravention of any rules 
made by the [State)1 Government, kindles any fire, or leaves 
any fire burning, in such manner as to endanger such a 
forest, or who in any such forest, 
c. kindles, keeps or carries any fire except at such seasons and 
in such manner as Forest Officer specially empowered in this 
behalf may from time to time notify, or 
d. fells, cuts, girdles, marks, lops, taps or injures by fire or 
otherwise any tree, or 
e. quarries stone, bums lime or charcoal, or collects, subjects to 
any manufacturing process or removes any forest produce, 
or 
f. clears or breaks up any land for cultivation or any other 
purpose, or 
g. poisons water or, in contravention of any rules made by the 
[State]1 Government, hunts, shoots, fishes or sets traps or 
snares, 
*[shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which is not less 
than one year but may extend to three years or with fine which may 
extend to five thousand rupees or with both.] 
*{Substituted by 2005 (Amd) Act (Act no 2 of 2008. s.4} 
26. Nothing in section 24 or section 25 shall be deemed to 
Power to stop ways 
and water courses in 
reserved forest. 
Penalties for 
trespass or damage 
in reserved forest. 
Acts prohibited rr 
such forests 
Acts exempted 

prohibit- 
(a) any practice of Jhum cultivation permitted under section 10, 
or 
(b) the exercise, in accordance with the rules, if any, made by 
the [State]1 Government under section 13 of any right continued 
under that section, or 
(c) the exercise of any right created by grant or contract in the 
manner described in section 21, or 
(d) any act done with the permission in writing of a Forest Officer 
specially empowered to grant such permission. 
1. Substituted for 'Provincial' by ALO, 1950 
2. Substituted for 'Provincial' by ALO, 1950 
27. Whenever fire is caused wilfully or by gross negligence in a 
reserved forest by any person having rights in such forest or 
permission to practise Jhum cultivation therein, or by any person, in 
his employment, or whenever any person having rights in such 
forest contravenes the provisions of section 22. the [State]1 
Government may, notwithstanding the infliction of any punishment 
under this Regulation, direct that in such forest or any specified 
portion thereof, the exercise of all or any of the rights of pasture or 
to forest produce shall be extinguished, or for such period as it 
thinks fit be suspended and, with respect to the practice of Jhum 
cultivation, may take such action under section 10, sub-section (4), 
as may seem to it to be proper. 
28. (I) The [State]1 Government may, by notification in the 
[Arunachal Pradesh]' Gazette, direct that from a date to be fixed by 
such notification, any forest, or any portion thereof, reserved under 
this Regulation shall cease to be reserved. 
(2) From the date so fixed such forest or portion shall cease to 
be reserved, but the rights, if any, which have been extinguished 
therein, shall not revive in consequence of such cessation. 
CHAPTER - Ill 
VILLAGE FORESTS 
29. (I ) The (state]1 Government may by notification in the 
[Arunachal Pradesh]2 Gazette, constitute any land at the disposal of 
the Government a village forest for the benefit of any village 
community or group of village communities, and may, in like 
manner, vary or cancel any such notification. 
(2) Every such notification shall specify the limits of such village 
forest. 
30. The [State]1 Government may make rules for regulating the 
management of village forests, prescribing the conditions under 
which the community or group of communities, for the benefit of 
which any such forest is constituted may be provided with forest 
produce or with pasture, and their duties in respect of the protection 
and improvement of such forest. 
(2) The [State]1 Government may by such rules declare any of the 
provisions of Chapter II of this Regulation to be applicable to village 
forests. 
31. All claims to any rights other than the rights of the village 
from sections 24 and 
25. 
Penalty for offences 
Committed by 
persons having 
rights in reserved 
forest. 
Power to declare 
forest no longer· 
reserved. 
Constitution 
village forests. 
of 
Power to make rule 
for village forests. 
inquiry into ano 

community or group of village communities, for the benefit of which 
such village forest is constituted, shall be inquired into recorded, 
and provided for in the manner prescribed by Chapter II of this 
Regulation. 
1. Substituted for 'Provincial' by ALO, 1950. 
2. Substituted for '0 11 icial' by NEA (Reorgn) (AP) ALO. 1974 
CHAPTER- IV 
GENERAL PROTECTION OF FORESTS AND FOREST 
PRODUCE 
32. The [State]1 Government may, by notification rn the 
[Arunachal Pradesh]2 Gazette- 
(a) declare that any trees or any specified class of trees 
standing on any land at the disposal of the Government shall, from 
a date to be fixed by such notification be reserved trees ; 
(b) vary or cancel any such notification. 
33. No person shall fell, cut, girdle, mark, lop, tap, or injure by fire 
or otherwise any reserved tree, except in accordance with rules 
made by the [State]r Government in this behalf or as provided by 
the last section of this Chapter. 
34. (I) No person shall make use of any forest produce of any 
land at the disposal of the Government and not included in a 
reserved forest or village forest, except in accordance with rules to 
be made by the [State]r Government in this behalf, or as provided 
by the last section of this Chapter 
(2) such rules may, with respect to such land,- 
(a) regulate or prohibit the cutting of Jhums or the issue of 
grants or leases on behalf of the Government; 
(b) regulate or prohibit the kindling of fires, and prescribe the 
precautions to be taken to prevent the spreading of fires ; 
I. Substituted for 'Provincial' by ALO, 1950. 
2. Substituted for 'Official' by NEA (Reorg) (AP) ALO, 1974. 
(c) regulate or prohibit the felling, cutting, girdling, marking, 
lopping, tapping, or injuring by fire or otherwise of any trees, the 
sawing, conversion, and removal of timber, and the collection and 
removal of other forest produces ; 
(d) regulate or prohibit the quarrying of stone, the boiling of 
catechu, or the burning of lime of charcoal. 
(e) regulate or prohibit the cutting of grass and pasturing of 
cattle and regulate the payments, if any, to be for such cutting or 
pasturing ; 
(f) prohibit the poisoning of water and regulate or prohibit 
hunting, shooting and fishing and the seeing of traps or snares I 
(g) regulate the sale or free grant of forest produce ; and 
(h) prescribe or authorise any Forest Officer to prescribe, subject 
to the control of the [State]r Government, the fees, royalties, or 
other payments for forest produce, and the manner in which such 
fees, royalties, or other payments are to be levied, whether in 
transit, or partly in transit, or otherwise. 
settlement of rights. 
Reserved trees rr 
Unsettled tracts. 
Protection 
reserved trees. 
of 
Protection of unsettle 
forests belonging to 
the Government. 

(3) The [State]1 Government may exempt any person of class of 
persons, or any local area, from the operation of any such rule, and 
may cancel such exemption. 
*[35. (1) If any person infringes the provisions of section 33, 
he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which is not less 
than one year but may extend three years , or with fine which may 
extend to five thousand rupees, or with both.] 
*{Substituted by 2005 (Amd) Act (Act no 2 of 2008. s.5} 
(2) The [State]1 Government may, by rule under section 34, 
attach to the breach of any rule under that section any punishment 
not exceeding that mentioned in subsection (1 ). 
36. Nothing in this Chapter or in any rule under this chapter 
shall be deemed to prohibit any act done in the exercise of any right 
or with the permission in writing of Forest Officer specially 
empowered to grant such permission. 
CHAPTER - IV A 
CONTROL OVER FOREST AND WASTE LANDS NOT BEING THE 
PROPERTY OF GOVERNMENT 
36A. (I) The [State]1 Government may, by notification in the local 
[Arunachal Pradesh]2 Gazette, regulate or prohibit in any forest or 
waste land- 
(a) the breaking up or clearing of land; 
(b) the pasturing of cattle; or 
(c) the firing or clearing of the vegetation; 
when such regulation or prohibition appears necessary in the public 
interest for any of the following purposes :- 
1. for protection against storms, winds, rolling stones, floods 
and avalanches; 
ii. for the preservation of the soil on the ridges and slopes and 
in the valleys of hilly tracts, the prevention of land slips or of 
the formation of ravines and torrents, or the protection of land 
against erosion, or the deposit thereon of sand, stones or 
gravel: · 
111. for the maintenance of a water-supply in springs, rivers and 
tanks; 
rv. for the protection of public roads, public bridges, railways and 
other lines of communication; 
v. for the preservation of public health. 
(2) the (State)1 Government may, for any such purpose, 
construct at its own expense in or upon any forest or waste land, 
such work as it thinks fit. 
(3) No notification shall be made under sub- section (I) nor 
shall any work be begun under sub- section (2) until after the issue 
of notice to the owner of such forest or land calling on him to show 
cause, within a reasonable period to be specified in such notice, 
why such notification should not be made or work constructed, as 
the case may be, and until his objections, if any and any evidence 
he may produce in support of the same, have been heard by an 
Penalties 
Nothing in this 
chapter to prohibit 
acts done in certain 
cases. 
Protection of 
forests for special 
purposes. 

officer not below the rank of Deputy Commissioner duly appointed 
in that behalf. 
(4) All objections filed under the proceeding subsection, 
together with the proceedings of the Special Officer relating thereto, 
shall b€ referred to the [State]1 Government for orders. On receipt of 
such reference, and after hearing such further cause as the objector 
may have to show, tie [State]1 Government shall pass such orders 
as it thinks fit. 
In any case in which an order under sub-section (I) or action 
under Sub-section (2) is, in the opinion of the [State]' Government, 
likely to disturb substantially the owner's rights in the land to which 
such order or action relates, the [State]1 Government may award to 
such owner such compensation as it may deem equitable : 
Provided that any compensation so paid shall be deducted 
from the amount payable to the owner under the provisions of the 
Land Acquisition Act, 1894, in the event of action being taken under 
the provisions of section 36 C. 
36B. (I) In case of neglect of or wilful disobedience to, any 
regulation or prohibition under section 36A, or if the purposes of any 
work to be constructed under that section so require, the [State)1 
Government may, after notice in writing to the owner of such forest 
or land and after considering his objections, if any, place the same 
under the control and management of a Forest Officer and may 
declare that all or any of the provisions of this Regulation shall apply 
to such forest or land. 
(2) The net profits, if any, arising from the management of such 
forest or land shall be paid to the said owner. 
36C. (1) In any case under this Chapter in which the (State)1 
Government considers that in lieu of placing the forest or land under 
the control and management of a Forest Officer, the same should 
be acquired for public purposes the [State]1 Government may 
proceed to acquire it in the manner provided by the Land Acquisition 
Act,1894, 
(2) The owner of any forest or land comprised in any notification 
under section 36A,or if there be more than one owner thereof, the 
owner of shares therein amounting in the aggregate to at least two 
thirds thereof, may at any time not less than three or more than 
twelve years from the date thereof require that such forest or land 
shall be acquired for public purposes and the [State]1 Government 
shall acquire such forest or land accordingly. 
360. (I ) The owner of any land or, if there be more than one owner 
thereof, the owner of shares therein amounting in the aggregate to 
at least two-thirds thereof may, with a view to the formation or 
conservation of forests thereon represent in writing to the Deputy 
Commissioner their desire- 
(a) that such land be managed on their behalf by the Forest 
Officer on such terms as may be mutually agreed upon; or 
(b) that all or any of the provisions of this Regulation be applied 
to such land. 
(2) in either the (state)1 Government may, by notification in the 
local (Arunachal Pradesh)2 Gazette, apply to such land such 
provisions of this Regulation as it thinks suitable to the 
circumstances thereof and as may be desired by the applicants. 
Power to assume 
Management of 
forest. 
Expropriation of 
forests rn certain 
cases. 
Protection of forests 
at requests of 
owners. 

CHAPTER- V 
DUTY ON IMPORTED FOREST PRODUCE 
37. (1) The Central Government may levy a duty in such manner, at 
such places and at such rates as it may prescribe by notification in 
the [Arunachal Pradesh] Gazette, on all forest produce which is 
brought into the territories to which this Regulation extends from any 
place beyond those territories. 
I. Substituted for 'Provincial' by ALO. 1950. 
2. Substituted for "official" by NEA (Reorg) (AP) Al-0 . 197 4 
(2) In every case in which such duty is directed to be levied 
ADVALOREM. the Central Government may, by like notification, 
determine the manner in which the value is to be ascertained. 
(3) Until provision to the contrary is made by the [Parliament]' 
the (State)2 Government may continue to levy on forest produce 
brought into the territories to which this Regulation extends from any 
place in the (state)2 beyond these territories and which it was 
levying immediately before the commencement of [Constitution]3. 
provided that nothing in this sub-section authorises the levy of 
any duty which as between forest produce of the [State]2 and similar 
produce of a locality outside the (state)2 discriminates in favour of 
the former, or which in the case of forest produce of locality outside 
the [State]2 discriminates between forest produce of one locality and 
similar forest produce of another locality. 
38. The Central or as the case may be the [State) Government 
may exempt any forest produce from the duty to which it is liable 
under the last foregoing section, and revoke such exemption. 
39. Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to limit the amount if 
any, chargeable as purchase-money or royalty in respect of any 
forest produce. 
CHAPTER- VI 
CONTROL OF FOREST PRODUCE IN TRANSIT 
40. (I ) The control of all rivers and their banks as regards the 
floating of timber, as well as the control of all forest produce in 
transit by land or water, is vested in the [State]'2 Government, and 
that Government may make rules to regulate the transit of any 
forest produce. 
I. Substituted for "Central Legislative" by ALO. 1950. 
2. Substituted for "Provincial" by ALO, 1950. 
3. Substituted for "Part Ill of the Government of India Act- 
1935" by ALO, 1950. 
(2) such rules may, among other matters - 
a. prescribe the routes by which alone forest produce may be 
imported into, exported from or moved within, the territories 
to which this Regulation extends : 
b. prohibit the import, export, collection or moving of forest 
produce without a pass from an Officer authorised to issue 
the same, or othen4'ise than in accordance with the 
Power to impose 
duty on fores: 
produce. 
Power to exempt 
forest produce from 
duty. 
Provisions or 
Chapter not to limit 
Purchase money or 
royalty. 
Power to make rules 
to regulate transit of 
forest produce. 

conditions of such pass ; 
c. provide for the issue, production and return of such passes; 
d. fix or authorise any Forest Officer, subject to the control of 
the [State]1Government, to fix the fees payable for such 
passes; 
e. in the case of timber formed into a raft or fastened to the 
shore, prohibit the loosening or the setting adrift of such 
timber by any Person not the owner thereof or not acting on 
behalf of such owner or of the [Government]2 ; 
f. provide for the stop Page, reporting, examination' and 
marking forest produce in transit in respect of which there is 
reason to believe that any money is payable to the 
[Government]2 or to which it is desirable, for the purposes of 
this Regulation, to affix a mark; 
g. establish revenue stations to which forest produce is 1 o be 
taken by the persons in charge of it for examination, or for 
the realisation of such money, or in order that such mark may 
be affixed to it, and prescribed, or authorise a Forest Officer, 
subject to such control as aforesaid, to prescribe' the 
conditions under which forest produce is to be brought to, 
stored atand removed from such revenue stations: 
h. provide for the management and control of such revenue 
stations and for regulating the appointment and duties of 
persons employed thereat : 
1. authorise the transport of timber across any land and provide 
for the award and payment of compensation for any damage 
done by the transport of such timber; 
J. prohibit the closing up or obstruction of the channel or banks 
of any river used for the transit of forest produce. and the 
throwing of grass, brushwood, branches or leaves into any 
such river, or any other act which tends to cause the 
obstruction of such channel; 
k. provide for the prevention and removal of any obstruction in 
the channel or on the banks of any such river and for 
recovering the cost of such prevention or removal from the 
person causing such obstruction: 
I. [prohibit absolutely or subject to conditions rules within 
specified local limits, the establishment of saw mills saw pits, 
veneer mills, plywood factories and any kind of forest based 
industries for the purpose of the conversion.manufacturing, 
m. peeling,cutting,burning,concealing,marking or super marking 
the timber, the altering or effacing of any marks on the same 
and possession or carrying of marking hammers or other 
implements used for marking timber; and 
*{Substituted by 2005 (Amd) Act (Act no 2 of 2008. s.6} 
n. regulate the use of property-marks for timber and the 
registration of such marks, authorise the refusal or 
cancellation of the registration of any property marks, 
prescribe€ the time for which the registration of property 
marks is to hold good, limit the number of such marks which 
may be registered by any one person, and provide for the 
levy of fees for such registration. 
(3) The [State]1 Government may direct that any rule made 
under this section shall not apply to any specified class of timber or 
other forest produce or to any specified local area. 
40A. Notwithstanding anything in section 40, the Central 
Government may make rules to prescribe the route by which alone 
timber or other forest product may be imported, exported or moved 
Power of Central 
Government as to 
movement of timber 

into or from [India], across any customs frontier as defined by the 
Central Government, and any rules, made under section 40 shall 
have effect subject to the rules made under this section. 
1. Substituted for 'Provincial' by ALO. 1950 
2. Substituted for 'Crown' by ALO, 1950. 
3. Substituted for 'Provincial' by ALO, 1950 
4. Substituted for 'British' by ALO, 1950. 
[41. ( 1) The [State J1 Government may, by a rule under the last 
foregoing section, attach to the breach as any rule under that 
section any punishment not exceeding imprisonment for a term 
which may extend to three years , or fine which may extend to five 
Thousand rupees, or both. 
*{Substituted by 2005 (Amd) Act (Act no 2 of 2008. s. 7} 
(2) In cases where the offence is committed after sunset and 
before sunrise or after preparation for resistance to the execution of 
any law or any legal process, or where the offender has been 
previously convicted of a like offence' the convicting court may inflict 
double the penalty prescribed for such offence. 
42. In case of any accident or emergency involving danger to 
any property at a revenue station established under a rule made 
under section 40' every Person employed at such revenue station, 
whether by the Government or by any private person, shall render 
assistance to any Forest Officer or Police Officer demanding his aid 
in averting such danger and securing such Property from damage or 
loss' 
CHAPTER - VII 
COLLECTION OF DRIFT, STRANDED AND OTHER TIMBER 
43. (I) Timber falling under any of the following description namely : 
a. timber found adrift, beached, stranded, or sunk, 
b. timber bearing marks which have not been registered under 
rules made under section 40, 
c. timber which has been supermarked, or on which marks 
have been obliterated, altered or defaced by fire or 
otherwise, and 
d. in such areas as the [State]' Government directs, all 
unmarked timber, shall be deemed to be the property of the 
(state]r Government unless and until any person establishes 
his right thereto as provided in this Chapter. 
(2) Such timber may be collected by any Forest officer or other 
person entitled to collect the same, and may be brought to such 
stations as a Forest Officer specially empowered in this behalf may 
from time to time, notify as stations for the reception of drift timber. 
(3) The [State]r Government may, by notification in the 
[Arunachal Pradesh)2 Gazette, exempt any class of timber from the 
provisions of this section and withdraw such exemption. 
44. (1) Public notice shall, from time to time as occasion may 
require, be given by a Forest Officer specially empowered in this 
behalf of timber collected under the last foregoing section. 
(2) Such notice shall contain a description of the timber' and 
will require any person claiming the same to present to such officer, 
within a period not less than one month from the date on which such 
across 
frontiers. 
customs 
Certain kinds or 
timber to be deemed 
the property of the 
State Government 
until title thereto 
proved. 
Notice to claimants 
of timber of those 
kinds. 

notice is given, a written statement of such claim. 
45. (I) When any such statement is presented as aforesaid, the 
Forest Officer, may, after making such inquiry as he thinks fit, either 
reject the claim after recording his reasons for so doing or deliver 
the timber to the claimant. 
(2) If such timber is claimed by more than one person' the 
Forest Officer may either deliver the same to any of such persons 
whom he deems entitled thereto, or may refer the claimants to the 
Civil Court and retain the timber pending the receipt of an order 
from such Court for its disposal. 
(3) Any person whose claim has been rejected under this 
section may, within three months from the date of such rejection, 
institute a suit to recover possession of the timber claimed by him, 
but no Person shall recover any compensation against the 
[Government]1 or against any Forest Officer on account of such 
rejection, or the detention or removal of any timber or the delivery 
thereof to any other person under this section. 
I. Substituted for 'Provincial' by ALO 1950. 
2. Substituted for 'Official' by the NEA (Reorgn) 
(AP) ALO 1974. 
3. Substituted for 'Crown' by ALO 1950. 
(4) No such timber shall be subject to process of any Civil 
Court until it has been delivered, or a suit brought under this section 
has been decided. 
46. Where no statement is presented in the manner and 
within the period prescribed by notice issued under section 44, or 
where such statement having been so presented and the claim 
rejected. the claimant omits to institute a suit to moreover 
possession of such timber within the further period mentioned in 
section 45, the ownership of such timber shall vest in the [State]r 
Government free from all incumbrances or, when such timber has 
been delivered to another person under section 45, in such other 
person free from all incumbrances not created by him. 
47. No person shall be entitled to recover possession of any 
timber collected or delivered as aforesaid until such sum as may be 
due for salving, collecting, moving storing, and disposing of the 
timber has been paid by him to the Forest Officer o

Excerpt shown. Open the full act in Lexace.

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