In Brief
P.T. Sreenarayanan Unni purchased 100 acres of private forest land through a partnership firm. He claimed 79 acres were not 'private forest land' and sought exemption under Kerala's Private Forest Act, 1971, arguing the land was under agricultural cultivation. The Supreme Court held that land is excluded from 'private forest' only if principally under agricultural crops. Finding no credible evidence of such cultivation, the Court upheld the tribunal's dismissal. It affirmed the High Court's exemption of 7.85 acres under Section 3(3), but dismissed the appeal as the majority of the land remained classified as private forest land.
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