Forest Rights Act And The Indian Constitution: A Fundamental Rights Perspective
- IJLLR Journal
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Sambhrant Kauahal, Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University Dehradun
Mr. Ashok Dobhal, Assistant Professor, Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University Dehradun
ABSTRACT
The Forest Rights Act, 2006, is a turning point in the governance of the forests of India and will put an end to the historical injustices done to Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers. The Act derives its life from the constitutional guarantees offered in Articles 14, 21, and 29-30, which entail individual and community rights over forest lands as subservient to equality, dignified living, and cultural preservation. This article critiques the Forest Rights Act from the perspective of fundamental rights in comparison to its scheme, purpose, and the way courts have interpreted it. It embarks on a comprehensive examination of these crucial issues-concerning the rights to community resources, in-situ rehabilitation, and the empowered participation of Gram Sabhas-to demonstrate the constitutional compatibility of the Act. The transformative judgments such as Orissa Mining Corporation v. Union of India1, affirming participatory governance, and Samatha v. State of Andhra Pradesh2, ratifying tribal land rights, thus find strong exemplification in this work. The work highlights the slow process of implementation that teems with loopholes and red tape as one of the barriers to the exercise of these rights while declaring the existence of bureaucratic jams, conflict of laws, and capacity shortfalls. The most recent legislative initiatives, particularly the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, have come to be deemed another quagmire for the effective enforcement of the Forest Rights Act, positing the commercial interest over the tribal entitlement space. The crux of the matter is that while the Forest Rights Act offers an edifice in the form of the justice and sustainable development framework, its effectiveness will depend on a legally harmonized regime and institutional reform, even as judicial oversight on the constitutional rights of forest-dependent communities in India continues.
Keywords: Forest Rights Act, Fundamental Rights, Scheduled Tribes, Article 21, Community Forest Resources, Constitutional Justice, Judicial Interpretation, Forest Governance
