In Brief
A journalist filed a public interest petition alleging large-scale tree felling and blasting in Khasra Nos. 512-605 during construction of villas and a resort in Uttarakhand, seeking enforcement of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The National Green Tribunal partially upheld the complaint for Khasra Nos. 512-513 (private forest land) but rejected it for Khasra No. 605 (barren land). The Supreme Court upheld the Tribunal, holding that revenue records showing land as barren in 1938 determine legal status; neither current vegetation nor scientific reports showing degradation could override this classification or establish deemed forest status without Forest Department designation.
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