In Re: T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India and Ors.
Background
This order arises out of the decades-long "Godavarman" forest-protection case, a continuing writ petition originally filed in 1995 to protect forests in the Nilgiris and later expanded nationwide, under which the Supreme Court set up a Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to monitor compliance with its forest-conservation orders. This particular application stemmed from a 2003 CEC report that documented extensive illegal mining inside the Jamua Ramgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan, mostly by private miners operating on temporary permits, and recommended cancelling the offending mining leases, fixing proper safety/buffer zones, and recovering compensation. A later, broader 2012 CEC report extended the issue to the whole country, recommending "Eco-Sensitive Zones" (ESZ), buffer areas around all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, with disputes among miners, State governments, and the CEC over how wide these buffer zones should be and what activities they should permit.
Decision Breakdown
The Court held that mining within national parks and wildlife sanctuaries is not permitted, and directed that every protected forest must have a minimum Eco-Sensitive Zone of one kilometre from its demarcated boundary (with a special, narrower 500-metre zone for subsisting activities specifically at Jamua Ramgarh, given its unique history), within which the restrictions of the Ministry of Environment's 2011 ESZ Guidelines must be strictly followed; where a wider zone is already prescribed by law, the wider zone prevails, and where no State/Union Territory proposal exists, a 10-kilometre buffer applies as an interim measure. It directed each State's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Home Secretary to ensure compliance, prepare inventories of existing structures within ESZs, and report to the Court within three months, while ongoing legitimate (non-prohibited) activities inside the ESZ could continue only after obtaining permission within six months, with no new permanent structures allowed. The CEC was separately directed to quantify compensation, reparation and confiscation measures against illegal miners at Jamua Ramgarh within four months, several unrelated interlocutory applications were severed off to be heard independently or by other appropriate benches, and the Court requested the Chief Justice of India to consider clubbing this matter with two related "Goa Foundation" writ petitions given overlapping issues.
Lesson Learnt
Even after decades, the Supreme Court's continuing supervisory framework over India's forests (through the Godavarman case and the CEC) can still issue fresh, binding, nationwide rules (here, a minimum one-kilometre no-mining buffer zone around every national park and wildlife sanctuary) showing that environmental protection orders in India are treated as an evolving, living mandate rather than a one-time judgment; illegal miners operating near protected areas remain liable to lease cancellation, confiscation of equipment, and monetary compensation years after the violation.