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M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Re: Kant Enclave matters)

Interlocutory Application · 2018 INSC 804Decided 11 Sept 2018
Interlocutory Application No. 2310 of 2008 and others in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 4677 of 1985
Justice Madan B. Lokur · Justice Deepak Gupta

Background

This is a set of applications (I.A. No. 2310/2008 and connected IAs) decided within the decades-long M.C. Mehta environmental PIL (W.P.(C) No. 4677 of 1985), this time concerning "Kant Enclave": land in Haryana's Aravalli hills that developer R. Kant & Co. was building a Film Studio and Allied Complex on. The land had been notified as protected "forest" under the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, but Haryana's Town & Country Planning Department kept supporting the developer's construction even as the Forest Department objected, and the Court's own 1996 order had separately banned construction within 5 km of nearby Badkal Lake and Surajkund. Construction nonetheless continued over the following decades amid this bureaucratic tug-of-war.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that land notified under the PLP Act must be treated as "forest"/"forest land," so any non-forest construction on it without prior Central Government clearance under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 was illegal, making R. Kant & Co.'s construction, and the Haryana Town & Country Planning Department's support for it, unlawful and in defiance of the Court's own earlier orders. The Court ordered demolition of the illegal post-18 August 1992 constructions, directed R. Kant & Co. to fully refund affected purchasers' investment with 18% annual interest, fixed demolition/construction costs at roughly ₹50 lakh to be split equally between R. Kant & Co. and the State's Town & Country Planning Department, and, invoking the "Polluter Pays" principle, directed R. Kant & Co. to deposit ₹5 crore (10% of its claimed ₹50 crore development cost) into the Aravalli Rehabilitation Fund for ecological restoration, with compliance deadlines set for October-December 2018 and the matter listed thereafter only to monitor compliance.

Lesson Learnt

Land once statutorily notified as protected forest remains legally "forest" regardless of later administrative permissions or years of unchecked construction: developers and purchasers who build or buy on such land, even with local government cooperation, risk demolition and financial liability under the Polluter Pays principle, and government departments that favor development over a standing conservation notification can themselves be held accountable for the resulting harm.

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

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