Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
1. Short title, extent and commencement
(1) This Act may be called the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 25th day of October, 1980.
Restrictions for Dereservation of Forests
2. Restriction on the de-reservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purpose. –
Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force in a State, no State Government or other authority shall make, except with the prior approval of the Central Government, any order directing -
that any reserved forest (within the meaning of the expression \"reserved forest\" in any law for the time being in force in that State) or any portion thereof, shall cease to be reserved;
(ii) that any forest land or any portion thereof may be used for any non-forest purpose;
(iii) (1)[that any forest land or any portion thereof may be assigned by way of lease or otherwise to any private person or to any authority, corporation, agency or any other organization not owned, managed or controlled by Government;
(iv) that any forest land or any portion thereof may be cleared of trees which have grown naturally in that land or portion, for the purpose of using it for reforestation].(2)
[Explanation- For the purposes of this section \"non-forest purpose\" means the breaking up or clearing of any forest land or portion thereof for-
the cultivation of tea, coffee, spices, rubber, palms, oil-bearing plants, horticulture crops or medicinal plants;
b) any purpose other than reforestation, but does not include any work relating or ancillary to conservation, development and management of forests and wild-life, namely, the establishment of check-posts, fire lines, wireless communications and construction of fencing, bridges and culverts, dams, waterholes, trench marks, boundary marks, pipelines or other like purposes].
', '', 1, 61, '2016-04-24 00:03:10', 94, '', '2016-04-24 00:23:01', 94, 0, '2016-05-19 05:44:21', '2016-04-24 00:03:10', ationrticle_options2, 6, '', '', 1, 1088, (193, 350, '3. Constitution of Advisory Committee', '3-constitution-of-advisory-committee', 'The Central Government may constitute a Committee consisting of such number of persons as it may deem fit to advise that Government with regard to -
(i) the grant of approval under section 2; and any other matter connected with the conservation of forests which may be referred to it by the Central Government.
', '', 1, 61, '2016-04-24 00:05:34', 94, '', '2016-04-24 00:21:53', 94, 0, '2016-05-19 05:44:18', '2016-04-24 00:05:34', ationrticle_options2, 5, '', '', 1, 1254, (194, 351, 'Penalty & Offenses', 'penalty-offenses', '(3)[3A. Penalty for contravention of the provisions of the Act. –
Whoever contravenes or abets the contravention of any of the provisions of section 2, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment for a period which may extend to fifteen days.
3B. Offences by authorities and Government departments. –
(1) Where any offence under this Act has been committed -
a) by any department of Government, the head of the department; or by any authority, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was directly in charge of, and was responsible to, the authority for the conduct of the business of the authority as well as the authority, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render the head of the department or any person referred to in clause (b), liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section(1), where an offence punishable under the Act has been committed by a department of Government or any authority referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1) and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any officer, other than the head of the department, or in the case of an authority, any person other than the persons referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1), such officer or persons shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly].
', '', 1, 61, '2016-04-24 00:07:44', 94, '', '2016-04-24 00:21:08', 94, 0, '2016-05-20 07:13:02', '2016-04-24 00:07:44', ationrticle_options2, 4, '', '', 1, 1311, (195, 352, '4. Power to make rules.', '4-power-to-make-rules', '(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule
The Forest (Conservation) Ordinance, 1980 is hereby repealed.
Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the provisions of the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act.
1. Ins. by Act 69 of 1988, sec.2(w.e.f. 15.3.1989)
2. Subs. by Act 69 of 1988, sec.2(w.e.f. 15.3.1989)
3. Section 3B ins. by Act 1988, sec.(w.e.f. 15.3.1989)
Prohibition of hunting ', '9-prohibition-of-hunting', ' No person shall hunt any wild animal specified in Schedules I, II, III and IV except as provided under section 11 and section 12.]
Hunting of wild animals to be permitted in certain cases (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force and subject to the provisions of Chapter IV,-
(a) the Chief Wild Life Warden may, if he is satisfied that any wild animal specified in Schedule I has become dangerous to human life or is so disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery, by order in writing and stating the reasons therefor, permit any person to hunt such animal or cause such animal to be hunted;
(b) the Chief Wild Life Warden or the authorized officer may, if he is satisfied that any wild animal specified in Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV has become dangerous to human life or to property (including standing crops on any land) or is so disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery, by order in writing and stating the reasons therefor, permit any person to hunt such animal or cause such animal to be hunted.
(2) The killing or wounding in good faith of any wild animal in defense of oneself or of any other person shall not be an offence
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall exonerate any person who, when such defense becomes necessary, was committing any act in contravention of any provision of this Act or any rule or order made thereunder.
(3) Any wild animal killed or wounded in defense of any person shall be Government property.
' Offences by companies
(1) Where an offence against this Act has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence against this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this section,-
(a) \"company\" means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
(b) \"director\", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.
Duties of Wild Life Advisory Board It shall be the duty of the Wild Life Advisory Board to advise the State Government,-
(a) in the selection of areas to be declared as sanctuaries, National Parks 14[***] and closed areas and the administration thereof;
15[(b) in formulation of the policy for protection and conservation of the wild life and specified plants;]
(c) in any matter relating to the amendment of any Schedule; 14[***]
16[(cc) in relation to the measures to be taken for harmonizing the needs of the tribals and other dwellers of the forest with the protection and conservation of wild life; and]
(d) in any other matter connected with the protection of wild life which may be referred to it by the State Government.
Restriction on transportation of wild life No person shall accept any wild animal (other than vermin), or any animal article, or any specified plant or part or derivative thereof, for transportation except after exercising due care to ascertain that permission from the Chief Wild Life Warden or any other officer authorized by the State Government in this behalf has been obtained for such transportation.]