In Brief
The State of Goa challenged a High Court judgment dismissing its counter-claim for deletion of private claimants' names from forest survey records. The Supreme Court held that the claimants' names were illegally recorded in the land survey documents after they had withdrawn their objection to forest classification. Under the Land Revenue Code and procedural rules, no entry could be made without a formal decision on the merits. The Court ruled that mineral rights and forest land vest solely in the State, and that matrix documents alone cannot establish title. The counter-claim was allowed, and the claimants' names were ordered to be deleted from the survey records.
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