PIL on deemed forest definition: HC gives state two more weeks to respond

Nainital: Uttarakhand high court, on Tuesday, gave the state government two more weeks to respond to the Public Interest Litigation (

PIL

) challenging the order issued by the state government in November last year that had defined a

deemed forest

as a “patch of land with at least 10 hectares area and 65% canopy cover”. The court, meanwhile, also said that the stay put on the order will remain in force. The case was being heard by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Narayan Singh Dhanik.

“The state government wasn't ready with its response. Therefore, the court gave two more weeks but the HC took a stern view and said that if the government isn't ready with its counter in the given time, it will order the concerned secretary and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to be personally present in the court,” said Abhijay Negi, the lawyer appearing for the petitioners.

Earlier, a bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma had stayed the order issued in December last year. Three petitions have been filed in the Uttarakhand high court challenging the government’s move so far. All these petitions have alleged that the entire move is aimed at benefiting the builders' lobby and land mafias in the state and will therefore damage the sensitive ecology of the Himalayas. The court clutched together these petitions which have been filed by environmental activists from Nainital and

Dehradun

.