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Himachal Pradesh Bus Stand Management and Development Authority v. The Central Empowered Committee

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 18Decided 12 Jan 2021
Civil Appeal Nos. 5231-32 of 2016
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice Indu Malhotra · Justice Indira Banerjee

Background

Forest land at McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, had been diverted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1997 for the limited purpose of building a parking space, but the Bus Stand Management Authority and its contracting developer instead constructed a larger "Bus Stand Complex" including a hotel-cum-restaurant. The Central Empowered Committee found this violated the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and recommended demolition; the National Green Tribunal (NGT) upheld this finding in 2016, ordering demolition of the hotel-cum-restaurant structure, compensation payments, and an inquiry against responsible officials. The Authority and developer appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the NGT's findings and directions in full, holding that any construction beyond what the MOEF's 1997 and 2001 permissions actually authorised (parking and bus-stand use only) was illegal, regardless of any "tacit approval" by the state authority, since the Forest Conservation Act requires strict adherence to the terms of forest-land diversion. Drawing on the "precautionary principle" and prior rulings penalising illegal construction on forest land, the Court rejected the argument that the completed hotel-cum-restaurant should be allowed to stand for public use, holding that doing so would effectively legalise an illegal construction. It also held the NGT had jurisdiction, as the violation was ultimately grounded in the Forest Act (which is within the NGT Act's Schedule I) even though a related planning-law question was also raised. The Court directed demolition of the hotel-cum-restaurant within specified timelines, failing which authorities could demolish it and recover costs from the developer, with the site thereafter restricted to parking and bus-stand use only.

Lesson Learnt

Permission to use forest land for one specific public purpose (such as parking) cannot be stretched to justify unrelated commercial construction, and courts will order demolition of illegal structures on forest land even years after completion, rather than allow illegality to be regularised through long use.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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