LexThe TAMIL NADU FOREST ACT - 1882
Tamil Nadu · state statute
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this act THE 1[TAMIL NADU] FOREST ACT, 1882
CONTENTS
PREAMBLE
Sections
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1
1-A
2
Short title. Local extent. Commencement.
Chapters VI -A and VI -B to apply to the transferred
territory only.
Interpretation-clause.
CHAPTER II
RESERVED FORESTS
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
16-A
17
17-A
Power to reserve forests,
Notification by the Government.
Suits barred.
Proclamation by Forest-settlement-officer.
Bar of accrual of forest-rights, Prohibition of clearings,
etc.
Inquiry by Forest-settlement-officer.
Powers of Forest-settlement-officer.
Claims to rights of occupancy and ownership.
Admitted claims.
Rejected claims.
Appeals.
Claims to rights of way, water-course, pasture and to
forest produce.
Provision for rights of pasture or to forest-produce
admitted.
Commutation of such rights
Appeal from order passed under sections 11, 12 and 13.
Appeal under section 14.
Notification declaring forest reserved
Declaration of certain land to be a Reserved Forest.
Extinction of rights not claimed.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Power of the Government to re -define the limits of
reserved forests in certain cases.
No right acquired ov er reserved forest except as here
provided.
Rights continued under section 12 not to be alienated
without sanction.
Power to stop ways and water-courses in reserved forest.
Penalties for trespass or damage in reserved forests, and
acts prohibited in such f orests. Acts exempted from
prohibition contained in this section.
Suspension of rights in reserved forests.
Persons bound to assist Forest-officer and Police-officer.
Power to declare forest no longer reserved. Forests
reserved previous to the passing of this Act.
CHAPTER III
PROTECTION OF LAND AT THE DISPOSAL OF GOVERN MENT
NOT INCLUDED IN RESERVED FORESTS.
26
27
28
28-A
Power to make rules, Penalties for acts in contravention
of rules.
Power to close land against pasture.
Penalties.
Penalties for breach of rule made under section 26.
CHAPTER IV
OF THE CONTROL OV ER FORESTS AND LANDS NOT AT THE
DISPOSAL OF GOVERNMENT OR IN WHICH GOVERNMENT
HAS A LIMITED INTEREST
29
30
31
32
On certain lands, the breaking up or clearing for
cultivation, etc., may be regulated or prohibited.
In case of refusal by owner, Government may take such
lands on lease or acquire them,
Acquisition of forest or land under the Land Acquisition
Act.
Protection of forests at request of owners.
33
34
Management of forests, the joint property of Government
and other persons.
Persons empl oyed to carry out the Act to be deemed
Forest officers.
CHAPTER V
CONTROL OF TIMBER IN TRANSIT
35
35-A
35-B
36
Power to make rules to regulate transit of timber.
Power of Central Government as to movements of timber
across frontiers.
Penalties for breach of rules made under Section 35
Penalties for breach of rules made under sections 35 and
35-A.
CHAPTER V-A.
POSSESSION OF SANDALWOOD.
36-A
36-B
36-C
36-D
36-E
36-F
Possession of sandalwood under licence.
Form and conditions of licence,
Power to cancel or suspend licence.
Appeal.
Penalties
Rights and sale of sandalwood tree grown on private
lands
CHAPTER VI
THE FOREST COURT
37
38
39
40
Appointment and constitution of the Forest Court.
The Judge appointed to be the President.
Hearing of appeals.
Court to pass order which shall be final.
CHAPTER VI-A.
OF THE COLLECTION OF DRIFT AND STRANDED
TIMBER,
40-A
40-B
Certain kinds of timber to b e deemed property of
Government until title thereto proved, and may be
collected accordingly.
Notice to claimants of timber collected under section 40-
40-C
40-D
40-E
40-F
A.
Procedure on claim preferred to such timber.
Disposal of unclaimed timber.
Payments to be made by claimant before timber is
delivered to him.
Power to make rules and prescribe penalties.
CHAPTER VI-B.
OF ROYALTIES.
40-G
40-H
40-I
40-J
40-K
40-L
40-M
40-N
40-O
40-P
40-Q
40-R
40-S
40-T
40-U
40-V
40-W
Royalties,
Notice of proposal to cut and remove royalty trees.
Joint mahazar to be prepared before removal of the trees.
Notice calling claims for kudivila. .
Inquiry by Forest-officer into claims for kudivila.
Award to be made after inquiry.
Reference to Court,
Forest-officer's statement to Court.
Service of notice.
Scope of the inquiry.
Form of award by Court.
Tendering payment.
Forest-officer to carry out the Court's awards as his own.
Bar of claims to kudivila.
Rules to be made by Government.
Punishment for felling, etc., trees which are royalties.
Other provisions not affected.
CHAPTER VII.
PENALTIES AND PROCEDURE.
41
42
43
44
Seizure of property liable to confiscation. Report to
Magistrate.
Procedure thereupon.
Timber, forest -produce, tools, eto., when liable to
confiscation.
Disposal, on conclusion of trial for forest -offence, of
produce in respect of which committed.
45
46
47
48
49
49 – A
49 – B
49 – C
49 – D
49 – E
49 – F
49 – G
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
Procedure when offender is not known or cannot be
found.
Procedure in regard to perishable property seized under
section 41.
Appeal from orders under section 43, 44 or 45.
Property when to vest in the Government.
Saving of power to release property seized.
Confiscation by Forest officers in certain cases
Issue of show cause notice before confiscation under sec 49-A
Revision
Appeal
Award of confiscation no bar for infliction
Property confiscated to vest with Government
Bar of jurisdiction in certain cases
Penalty for counterfeiting or defacing marks on trees and
timber, and for altering boundary- marks.
Power to arrest without warrant.
Punishment for wrongful seizure or arrest.
Power to prevent commission of offense.
Operation of other laws not barred.
Power to compound offenses.
Presumption that timber or forest -produce belongs to the
Government. (56-A, 56-B, 56-C, 56-D, 56-E)
CHAPTER VIII
CATTLE-TRESPASS.
57
58
Cattle-trespass Act, 1871, to apply.
Power to alter fines fixed by that Act
CHAPTER IX.
FOREST-OFFICERS.
59
60
61
62
59 Government may invest Forest-officers with certain
powers.
Forest-officers deemed public servants.
Indemnity for acts done in good faith.
[Omitted].
CHAPTER X.
MISCELLANEOUS.
63
64
64-A
65
66
67
68
68-A
Additional powers to make rules.
Rules when to have force of law. Powers of Government
exercisable from time to time.
Rules to be placed before the Legislature.
Government may delegate powers.
Recovery of money due to Government.
Lien on forest-produce for such money. Power to sell
such produce.
Land required under this Act to be deemed to be needed
for a public purpose under the Land Acquisition Act.
Liability of person u nauthorisedly occupying any land in
reserved forest, etc., to summary eviction.
1(TAMIL NADU) ACT No. V OF 1882.
[THE 1(TAMIL NADU) FOREST ACT, 1882]
(Received the as sent of the Governor on the 17th September
1882, and of the Governor -General on the 11 th October 1882, and
came into force on the 1st January 1883.)
An Act to make provision for the Pro tection and 4[State of Tamil
Nadu].
WHEREAS it is expedient to make provision for Preamble the
protections and management of forests in the 4[State of Tamil
Nadu]; It is hereby enacted as follows :-
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. This Act may be called the 1(Tamil Nadu) Forest Act, 1882.
1[It extends to the whole of the 1(State of Tamil Nadu)]
Provided that the 2(Government)] may, by notifi cation in the
4[Official Gazette], exempt any place from the operation of the whole
or any portion of this Act but not so as to affect anything done, or
any offence committed, or any fine or incurred, or a ny proceedings
commenced in such place before such exemption, and may in li ke
Preamble
Short title
Local Extent
Commencement
Chapters VI-A
and VI-B to
apply to the
1. Substituted by A.O. 1969
2. Substituted by A.O. 1957
3. Substituted by A.O. 1950
4. Inserted by TN Act 40 of 1965
manner vary or cancel such notification;
and it shall come into force on such day as the 2[Government]
may by notification in the 3[Official Gazette] direct;
1[1-A. The provisions of Chapters VI -A and VI -B shall apply only
to the transferred territory.]
transferred
territory only.
2. In this Act, and in all rules made hereunder, unless there is
something repugnant in the subject or context,-
“Government” means the 1[State Government]:
“Collector " means the chief executive Revenue- "Collector."
officer of a district:
“Forest-Officer " means any person appointed by name or as
holding an office by or under the orders of the Government to be a
Conservator, Deputy Conservator, Assistant Conservator, Extra
2[Assistant Conservator], Forest-ranger, Forester, Forest-guard:
or to discharge any function of a Forest -officer under this Act or
any rule made hereunder :
“District-Forest-officer " means the chief Forest-officer of a district
or of a portion of a district, if in independent charge of such portion:
" tree " includes stumps, bamboos and brushwood:
“timber” includes trees when they have fallen or have felled, and
all wood, whether cut up or fashioned or hallowed out for any
purpose or not :
““Scheduled timber” means any timber as specified in
Schedule””
“forest produce” includes the following things when found in, or
brought from, a forest (that is to say) :-
minerals (including limestone and surface-soil, trees, timber,
plants, grass, peat, canes, creepers, reeds, fibres, leaves, moss,
flowers, fruits, Seeds, roots, galls, spices, juice, cate chu, bark,
caoutchouc, gum, wood-oil, resin, varnish, la c, charcoal, honey and
wax, skins, tusks, bones and horns:
1[Explanation I- In the transferred territory, " forest-produce” also
includes the following things, whether found in, or brought from, a
forest or not, that is to say:-
Interpretation
clause
“Government”
“Collector”
“Forest Officer”
“District Forest
Officer”
“Tree”
“Timber”
“forest produce”
1. Inserted by TN Act 40 of 1965
2. Substituted by A.O. 1957
timber or trees which are specified to be royalties under section
40-G.
Explanation II – For the purpose of Explanation I, timber does
not include any wood that has been wrought or fashioned such as
doors, windows, articles of furniture and boxes;]
“forest-offence" means an offense punishable under this Act or
any rule made hereunder:
“Cattle” includes elephants, camels, buffaloes, horses, mares,
ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, sheep, lambs,
goats and kids:
"river " includes streams, canals, backwaters], creeks and other
channels, natural or artificial:
“land at the dis posal of Government " includes all unoccupied
land, whether assessed or unassessed; but does not include land,
the property of land holders as defined by section 1 of Act VIII of
18652, Madras (namely) all person holding under sanad-i-milkiyat-i-
istimrar, a ll other zamindars, shrotriyamdars, jagirdars, inamda rs
and all persons farming lands from the above persons or farming
the land-revenue under Government ; also all holders of land under
raiyatwar settlements, or in any way subject to the payment of land -
revenue direct to Government, and all other registered holders of
land in proprietary right:
1[Explanation – In the transferred territory, “ land at the disposal
of Government" also includes all land occupied temporarily and all
land occupied without permission, whether assessed or
unassessed, but does not include land, the property of jenmies or
Devaswoms.]
“Magistrate” means a Magistrate of the first and second class*,
and includes a Magistrate of the third class* when he is specially
empowered by Government to try forest-offences :
“imprisonment” means imprisonment of either description as
defined in the Indian Penal Code :
3,2“Scheduled Timber” means any timber as specified in the
schedule.
“Forest Offence”
“Cattle”
“River”
“Land at the
disposal of
Government”
“Magistrate”
“Imprisonment”
“Scheduled
Timber”
1. Inserted by TN Act XL of 1965.
2. Amended by TN Act XL of 1965.
3. TN Act 44 of 1979.
4. Substituted by A.O. 1957
1[“transferred territory” means the Kanyakumari district and the
Shencottah taluk of the Tirunelveli district:]
“Transferred
territory”
CHAPTER II
RESERVED FORESTS
3. The 2[Government] may constitute any land at the disposal
of Government a reserved forest in the manner hereinafter provided.
4. Whenever it is proposed to constitute any land a reserved
forest the 2[Government] shall publish a notification in the 4[Official
Gazette] and in the official Gazette of the district-
(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;
(c) appointing an officer (hereinafter called the Forest-
settlement-officer) to inquire into and deter mine 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, or to any forest -produce of such land, and to deal with the
same as provided in this Chapter.
The officer appointed under class (c) of this section shall
ordinarily be a person other than a Forest -officer; but & Forest -
officer may be appointed by the 2[Government] to atten d on behalf
of Government at the inquiry prescribed by this Chapter.
5. Except as hereinafter provided, no Civil Court shall, between
the dates of the publication of the notification under section 4 and of
the notification to be issued under section 16, entertain any suit to
establish any right in or over any land, or to the forest-produce of
any land, included in the notification published under section 4.
6. When a notification has been issued under section 4, the
Forest-settlement-officer shall publish in the official Gazette of the
district, and at headquarters of each taluk in which any portion of the
land included in such notification is situate, and
in every town and village in the neighborhood of such land, a
Power to reserve
forest
Notification by
the Government
Suits barred.
Proclamation by
Forest-
settlement-
officer
1. Inserted by TN Act XL of 1965.
2. Substituted by A.O. 1957
proclamation-
(a) specifying, as nearly as possible, the situation and limits of
the land proposed to be included within the reserved forest;
(b) setting forth the substance of the provisions of section 7;
(c) explaining hereinafter provided, will ensu re of such forest;
and
(d) fixing a period not less than three months from the date of
publishing such proclamation in the official Gazette of the
district and requiring every person claiming any right
referred to in section 4 either to present to such officer,
within such period, a written notice specifying, or to appear
before him within such period and state, the nature of such
right and in either case to produce all documents in support
thereof.
The Forest -settlement-officer shall also serve notice to the
same effect on every known or reputed owner or occupier of any
land included in or adjoining the land proposed to be constituted a
reserved forest, or on his recognized agent or manager. Such notice
may be sent by registered post to persons residing beyond the limits
of the district in which such land is situate.
7. During the interval between the publication of such
proclamation and the date fixed by the notification under section 16,
no right shall be acquired in or over the land included in such
proclamation, except und er a grant or contract in writing made or
entered into by, or on behalf of the Government, or by, or on behalf
of, some person in whom such right, or power to create the same,
was vested when the proclamation was published, or by succession
from such person;
and no fresh clearings for c ultivation or for any other purpose
shall be made on such land.
No patta shall, without the previous sanction of the 1[Board of
Revenue], be granted on behalf of Govern ment in such land, and
every patta granted without such sanction shall be null and void.
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit any act done
Bar of accrual of
forest rights
Prohibition of
clearings, etc.
1. Substituted by A.O. 1950 Sec. TN Abolition of Board of Revenue Act 1980.
with the permission in writing of the Forest-settlement-officer.
8. The Forest -settlement-officer shall take down in writing all
statements made under section 6, and shall inquire into all claims
made under that section, recording the evidence in the manner
prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure1 in appealable cases.
The Forest -settlement-officer shall at the same time consider
and record any objection which the Forest-officer (if any) appointed
under soot ion 4 may make to any such claim.
9. For the purp ose of such inquiry the Forest -settlement-officer
may exercise the following powers (that is to say):-
(a) power to enter, by himself or any officer authorized by him
for the purpose, upon any land, and to survey, demarcate
and make a map of the same; and
(b) the powers conferred on a Civil Court by the Code of Civil
Procedure1 for compelling the attendance of witnesses and
the production of documents.
10. In the c ase of a claim to a right in or over any land other
than the following rights:-
(a) a right of way;
(b) a right to a water-course, or to use of water;
(c) a right of pasture; or
(d) a right 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.
i. If such claim is admitted wholly or in part, the Forest -
settlement-officer may
(1) come to an agreement with the claimant for the surrender of
the right; or (2) exclude the land from the limits of the proposed
forests; or (3) proceed to acq uire such land in the manner provided
by the Land Acquisition Act, 18701.
For the purpose of so acquiring such land-
(i) the Forest -settlement-officer shall be deemed to be a
Collector proceeding under the Land Acquisition Act, 18701;
Inquiry by Forest
settlement
officer
Powers of Forest
settlement
officer
Claims to rights
of occupancy
and ownership.
Admitted claims
1. Now Act 1 of 1894.
(ii) 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;
(iii) the provisions of the preceding sections of that Act shall be
deemed to have been complied with; and
(iv) the Forest -settlement-officer with the consent of the
claimant, or the Court (as defined in the said Act) with the consent
of the claimant and of the Collector of the district, may award
compensation by the grant of right in or over land, or by the
payment of money, or both.
ii. If such claim is rejected wholly or in part, Rejected the
claimant may, date of the order, prefer an appeal to the District
Court in respect of such rejection only: Provided that the
1[Government] may, on just and reasonable cause for the same
being shown, extend the period for such appeal within such further
period as may seem proper, and an order or endorsement under the
signature of one of the Secretaries to Government shall be sufficient
authority for the said Court to entertain such specified. If the Court
decides that the claim or such part thereof as has been rejected
should be admitted, the Forest -settlement-officer shall proceed to
deal with it in like manner as if it had been in the first instance
admitted by himself.
iii. When a claim has be en admitted in the first instance wholly
or in part, a like appeal may be preferred on behalf of Government
by the Forest - officer appointed under sec tion 4, or other person
generally or specially empowered by the Government in this behalf.
11. In the case of a claim to rights of the kind specified in
clauses (a), (b), (c) and (d) of section 10, the Forest -settlement-
officer shall pass an order specifying the particulars of such claim as
far as may be necessary to d efine the nature, incidents and extent
of the rights claimed, and admitting or rejecting such claim wholly or
in part.
When a claim to any such right is admitted, if the right is for the
beneficial enjoyment of any land or buildings, he shall re cord the
Rejected claims
– Appeals.
Claims to rights
of way, water-
course, pasture,
and to forest-
produce
1. Substituted by A.O. 1950
designation, position and area of such land, and the designation and
position of such buildings.
Where the right is a right to forest -produce, he shall also record
whether the forest -produce obtained by the exercise of such right
may be sold or bartered.
12. When the Forest -settlement-officer has admitted wholly or in
part, and recorded under section 11, 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 reser ved forest so as to
exclude land of su fficient extent, of a suitable kind, and in a lo cality
reasonably convenient for the purposes of the claimant;
(b) by re cording an ord er continuing to the claimant s right of
pasture or to forest -produce (as the case may be), subject to such
rules as may be prescribed by the 1[Government].
The order pass ed under clause (b) shall re cord, as far as
practicable, the number and description of the cattle which the
claimant is from time to time entitled to graze, the local limits within
which, and the seasons during which, such pasture is permitted; or
the quantity of timber or other forest-produce which the claimant
is authorized to take or receive, the local limits within which, the
season during which, and the mode in which, the taking of such
produce is permitted; and
such other particulars as may be required in order t o define the
extent of the right which is continued, and the mode in which it may
be exercised.
13. Whenever any right of pasture or to forest -produce admitted
under section 11 is not provided for in one of the ways prescribed in
section 12, the Forest- settlement-officer shall, subject to such rules
as the 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 rights in or over land or in such other
manner as such officer thinks fit,
14. The claimant, or the Forest -officer appointed under section
Provision for
rights of pasture
or to forest-
produce
admitted.
Commutation of
such rights.
Appeals from
order passed
1.Substituted by A.O. 1950
4, or any other person generally or specially empowered by the
Government in this behalf, may, within sixty days from the date of
any order passed by the Forest -settlement-officer under sections
11, 12 and 13, present an appeal from such order.
to a Forest Court constituted as hereinafter provide d, or, where
no such Court is constituted, to such officer of the Revenue
Department of not less than twelve years' standing as the
1[Government] may, from time to time, by notification in the 2[Official
Gazette], appoint, by name or as holding un office, to hear appeals
from such orders.
In disposing of such appeals the Revenue -officer appointed as
aforesaid shall be guided by the provisions of sections 39 and 40 of
this Act.
15. Every appeal under section 14 shall be made by petition in
writing, and may be delivered to the Forest -settlement-officer, who
shall forward it without delay to the appellate authority.
16. 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
sections10 and 14 for appealing from the orders passed on
such claims has elapsed, and all appeals (if any) presented
within such period have been dispose d of by the appellate
authority; and
(c) all proceedings prescribed by section 10 have been taken,
and all lands (if any) to be included in the proposed forest,
which the Forest -settlement-officer has, under section 10,
elected to acquire under the Land Acquis ition Act, 1870 1,1
have become vested in the Act Government under section
16 of that Act;
the 1[Government] may publish a notification in the 2[Official
Gazette], specifying the limits of the forest which it is intended to
reserve, and declaring the same to be reserved from a date to be
under sections
11, 12 and 13
Appeal under
section 14
Notification
declaring forest
reserved
1. Substituted by A.O. 1950
2. Substituted by A.O. 1937
fixed by such notification.
The Forest settlement -officer shall, before the date so fixed,
publish such n otification in the manner pres cribed for the
proclamation under section 6.
From the date so fixed, shah forest shall be deemed to be a
reserved forest.
116-A. The Government may, by notification, declare any land in
a janmam estate, vested with the Government under the Gudalur
Janmam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1969
(Tamil Nadu Act 24 of 1969) and determined as forest under that
Act, as reserved forest.
17. R ights in respect of which no claim has been preferred
under section 6 shall thereupon be extingui shed, notification, the
person claiming them has satisfied the Forest-settlement officer that
he had sufficient cause for not preferring su ch claim within the
period fixed under section 6; in whi ch case the Forest -settlement-
officer shall proceed to dispose of the claim in the man ner
hereinbefore provided.
2[17-A. (1) Where the description of the limits of lower of the any
reserved forest notified under section 16 is defective o r is not clear
in reference to existing facts, the 2[Government] may, by notification
in the 3[Official Gazette], declare their intention to redefine the limits
of such reserved forest so as to remove the defeat or to make the
description clear in reference to existing facts. Such notification shall
specify as nearly as possible the corrections which it is proposed to
effect to the limits of the reserved forest.
(2) On the issue of a notification under sub -section (1), the
District-forest-officer shall publish in the Official Gazette of the
district concerned and in such other manner as may be prescribed
by rules made in that behalf a notice-
(a) specifying the corrections proposed by the notification under
sub-section (1); and
(b) stating that any objections which may be made in person or
in writing to the District -forest-officer, within a period of thirty
Declaration of
certain land to
be a Reserved
Forest.
Extinction of
rights not
claimed
Powers of the
Government to
redefine the
limits of reserved
forests in certain
cases
1. Inserted by TN Act 18 of 2019.
2. Inserted by TN Act VII of 1936.
3. Subs. by A.O. 1950.
4. Subs. by A.O. 1937.
days from the date of publication of the notice, will be
considered by him.
(3) After the expiry of the period referred to in clause (b) of sub -
section (2) and afte r considering the objections, if any, received by
him, the District -forest-officer shall submit to the Government] the
record of the proceedings held by him together with a report
thereon.
(4) The 1[Government] may, after considering the report of the
District-forest-officer, by notification in the 1[Official Gazette]
redefine the limits of the reserved forest, as proposed by the
notification under sub-section (1), with such modifications as they
think fit or without any modifications.
(5) Save as provided in this section, it shall not be necessary to
follow the procedure laid down in sections 4 to 16 before is suing a
notification under sub-section (4).]
18. No right of any description shall he acquired in or over a
reserved forest, except under a grant or con tract in writing made by
or on behalf of the Government, or by or on behalf of some person
in whom such right, or the power to create such right, was vested
when the notification under section 16 was published or by
succession from such person :
Provided that no patta shall without the previous sanction of the
2[Board of Revenue] be granted on behalf of Government for any
land included within a reserved forest, and every patta granted
without such sanction shall be null and void.
19. Notwithstanding anything herein contained, no right
continued under section 12 shall be alienated by way of grant, sale,
lease, mortgage or otherwise without the sanction of the
Government: Provided that, when any such right is continued for the
beneficial enjoyment of any land or buildings, it may be sold or
otherwise alienated with such land or buildings without such
Sanction. Any alienation of such right in contravention of this section
shall be null and void.
No forest-produce obtained in exercise of any right. Continued
No right
acquired over
reserved forest
except as here
provided.
Rights continued
under section 12
not to be
alienated without
sanction.
1. Subs. by A.O. 1950
2. Now abolished by TN Act 1 of 1980.
under section 19 shall be sold or bartered except to the extent
defined by the order recorded under sections 11 and 12.
Any person selli ng or bartering any forest -produce in
contravention of this s ection shall be punished with fine which may
extend to two hundred rupees.
20. The District -forest-officer may, from time, to time, with the
previous sanction of the Government, stop any public or private way
or water-course in a reserved forest : Provided that a reasonably
convenient substitute for the way or water -course so stopped
already exists, or has been provided or constructed in lieu thereof.
21. Any person who-
(a) makes any fresh clearing prohibited by section 7 ; or
(b) sets fire to a reserved forest, or kindles, or leaves burning,
any fire in such manner as to endanger the same;
or who, in a reserved forest,-
(c) kindles, keeps or carries any fire except at such season and
in such manner as the District-forest-officer may from time to
time notify;
(d) trespasses, or pastures cattle, or permits cattle to trespass ;
(e) fells, girdles, marks, lops, taps, uproots or burns any tree, or
strips off the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, the
same;
(f) quarries stone, burns lime or charcoal, or collects, subjects
to any manufacturing process, or removes any forest -
produce;
(g) clears, cultivates or breaks up any land for
cultivation or any other purpose; or
(h) in contravention of any rules made by the 1[Government]
hunts, shoots, fishes, poisons water or sets traps or snares;
(i) damages, alters or removes any wall, ditch, embankment,
fence, hedge or railing;
1[shall, damage done to the forest as the convicting court may
direct to be paid, be punished -
(1) 2in any case where any of the acts aforesaid relates to any
Power to stop
ways and water
courses in
reserved forest.
Penalties for
trespass or
damage in
reserved forests,
and acts
prohibited in
such forest.
1. Subs. by TN Act XLV of 1979.
2. Subs by TN Act XXXVI of 1961
scheduled timber, with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 1[five years] and with fine which may extend to
1[twenty thousand rupees].
Provided that, -
(a) for a first offence, the term such imp risonment shall not be
less than 1[two years] and such fine shall not be less than
1[seven thousand five hundred rupees];
(b) for a second or subsequent offence the term of such
imprisonment shall not be less than 1[three years] and such
fine shall not be less than 1[fifteen thousand rupees].
(2) in any other case, with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to six months, o r with fine which may extend to five hundred
rupees, or with both.]
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit-
(a) any act done in accordance with any rules made by the
Government or with the permission in writing of the District -
forest-officer, or of an officer authorized by him to grant such
permission ; or
(b) the exercise of any right continued under section 12 or
created by grant or contract in the manner described in
section 18:
Provided that this section shall not be held to interfere with such
working of the forest as may be ordered by the District-forest-officer.
22. Whenever fire is caused wilfully or negligently in a reserved
forest, the Government may (notwith standing that a penalty has
been inflicted under section 21) direct that in such forest or any
portion thereof the exercise of all rights of pasture or to forest -
produce shall be suspended for such period as it thinks fit.
23. Every person who exercises any right in a reserved forest, or
who is permitted to take any forest -produce from, or to cut and
remove timber or to pasture cattle in, such forest; and
every person who is employed by any such person in such
forest; and
every village-officer or pe rson in any village contiguous to such
Acts exempted
from prohibition
contained in this
section.
Suspension of
rights in
reserved forests
Persons bound
to assist Forest
officer and
Police-officer
1. Subs. by TN Act 44 of 1992.
forest who is employed by the Government;
shall be bound to furnish without unnecessary delay to the
nearest Forest-officer or Police-station-house-officer any information
he may possess respect ing the occurrence of a fire in or near such
forest or the commission of, or intention to commit, any forest
offence; and shall assist any Forest -officer or Police -officer
demanding his aid-
(a) in extinguishing any fire occurring in such forest;
(b) in preventing any fire which m ay occur in the vicinity of such
forest from spreading to such forest;
(c) in preventing the commission in such forest of any forest -
offence; and
(d) when there is reason to believe that any such offence has
been committed in such forest, in discover ing and arresting
the offender.
24. The Government may 1[* * *] by notification in the 2[Official
Gazette] direct that, from a date to be fixed by such notification, any
forest or any portion thereof reserved under this Act shall cease to
be reserved.
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.
25. The Government may, by notification in th e 2[Official
Gazette], declare any forest which has been reserved by order of
the Government previous to the day on which this Act comes into
force to be a reserved forest under this Act:
Provided that if the rights of the Government or of private
persons to or over any land or forest -produce in such forest have
not been inquired and recorded in a manner which the Government
thinks sufficient, the same shall be inquired into, settled and
recorded in the manner provided by this Act for reserved fores ts,
before the date on which the notifica tion declaring the forest to be
reserved takes effect.
All questions decided, orders issued and records prepared in
Power to declare
forest no longer
reserved
Forests reserved
previous to
passing of this
Act.
1. Omitted by A.O. 1937
2. Subs. by ibid.
connection with the reservation of such forest shall be deemed to
have been decided, issued and prepared hereunder, and the
provisions of this Act relating to reserved forests shall apply to such
forest.
CHAPTER III
PROTECTION OF LAND AT THE DISPOSAL OF GOVERNMENT
NOT INCLUDED IN RESERVED FOREST
26. Subject to all rights now legally vested in individuals and
communities, the Government may for any district or portion of a
district make rules to regulate the use of the pasturage or of the
natural produce of land at the disposal of Government and not
included in a reserved forest. Such rules may, with respect to such
land,-
(a) regulate or prohibit the clearing or breaking up of land for
cultivation or other purposes;
(b) regulate or prohibit the kindling of fires, and prescribe the
precautions to be taken to prevent the spreading of fires;
(c) regulate or prohibit the cutting, sawing, conversion and
removal of trees and timber, and the collection and removal
of natural produce;
(d) regulate or prohibit the quarrying of stone, the boiling of
catechu, or the burning of lime or charcoal;
(e) regulate or prohibit the cutting of grass and pasturing of
cattle, and regulate the payments (if any) to be made for
such cutting or pasturing;
(f) regulate or prohibit hunting, shooting, fishing, poisoning
water and setting traps or snares;
(g) regulate the sale or free grant of timber or other natural
produce; and
(h) prescribe the fees, royalties or other payments for such
timber or other natural produce, and the manner in which
such fees, royalties or other payments shall be levied.
Provided that the Government may exempt any person or class
Power to make
rules
of persons from the operation of all or any of such rules.
1[Omitted]
27. Whenever fire is caused wilfully or negligently in any land to
which all or any of the rules made under section 26 have been
extended, the 2Government may, notwithstanding that a penalty has
been inflicted under that section, direct that such land be closed
against pasture for such period as it thinks fit :
Provided that an area sufficient in extent and in a locality
reasonably convenient is left open for the use of persons having
rights of pasture in such land.
28. Whoever pastures cattle or permits cattle to trespass in land
closed under section 27 shall be punish ed with imprisonment for a
term which may extend to one month, hundred rupees, or with both.
128.A Whoever infringes a ny rules made under section 26 shall
be punished, -
(1) in any case where such infringement relates to any
scheduled timber, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to
1[five years] and with fine which may extend to 1[twenty thousand
rupees] :
Provided that,
(a) for a first offence, the term of such imprisonment shall not be
less t han one year and such fine shall not be less than
1[seven thousand five hundred rupees] ;
(b) for a second or subsequent offence, the term of such
imprisonment shall not be less than 2[three years] and such
fine shall not be less than 2[fifteen thousand rupees];
(2) in any other case, with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two hundred
rupees, or with both.
Penalties for
acts in
contravention of
rules.
Power to close
land against
pasture.
Penalties
CHAPTER IV
OF THE CONTROL OVER FORESTS AND LANDS NOT AT THE
DISPOSAL OF GOVERNMENT OR IN WHICH GOVERNMENT
HAS A LIMITED INTEREST
29. The 3[Government] may from time to time, by notif ication in
On certain lands,
1. Subs by TN Act 45 of 1979
2. Subs by TN Act 44 of 1992
3. Subs by A.O. 1950
the 1[Official Gazette] and in the official Gazettes of the districts
affected thereby, regulate or prohibit in any forest waste-land not at
the disposal of Government –
(a) the breaking up or clearing of land for cultivation:
(b) the pasturing of cattle;
(c) the firing or clearing of the vegetation; when such regulation
or prohibition appears to be necessary for any of the
following purposes :-
first, for protection against storms, winds, rolling stones, floods
and avalanches;
second, for the preservation of the soil on the ridges and slopes,
and in the valleys, of hilly tracts, the prevention of landslips and of
the formation of ravines and torrents and the protection of land
against erosion, or the deposit thereon of sand, stones or gravel;
third, for the maintenance of a water -supply in springs, rivers
and tanks;
fourth, for the pro tection of roads, bridges, rail ways and other
lines of communication;
fifth, for the preserv ation of the public health; and may alter or
cancel such notification.
The Government may, for any such purpose, construct at their
own expense, in or upon any such forest or land, such works as
they think fit:
Provided that no such notification shall be made or work begun
until after the issue of a notice to the owner of such forest or land
calling upon him to show cause, within a reasonable period to he
specified in such notice, why such notification should not be made
or work c onstructed, and until his objections (if any) and any
evidence he may produce in support of the same have been heard
by an officer duly appointed in that behalf, and hav e been
considered by the Government.
30. Whenever the owner of such forest or land may decline to
comply with the regulations or directions contained in the said
notification, it shall be incumbent upon the Government, if they
the breaking up
or clearing for
cultivation, etc.,
may be
regulated or
prohibited
In case of
refusal by
owner,
Government
1. Subs by A.O. 1937
Central Act X
of 1870.
Central Act X
of 1870.
resolve to assume control of the said forest or land, to take the said
forest or land, or so much of it as they may see fit, on lease from the
owner for such term as they may deem it necessary to retain the
same under control, and the owner shall be bound either to
conclude such lease with the Government or to require that such
forest or land shall be acquired for public purposes, such land and in
the latter event the Government shall acquire such forest or land
accordingly. If such lease is agreed upon, the amount of annual rent
to be reserved, and all other questions arising between the owner or
persons claiming to be owners and the Government, shall, in case
of dispute, be determined in accordance, so far as may be, wit h the
provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 18701.
31. In any case under this Chapter in which the Government
consider that, in lieu of taking the forest or land under its control, the
same should beExcerpt shown. Open the full act in Lexace.