Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and Union Minister Shanta Kumar on Saturday said the state government should refrain from moving the Supreme Court against the High Court’s directive to end illegal occupation of forest land.
He pointed out that the High Court had only asked the government to remove encroachments, not to cut down apple-laden trees. “To comply with the order, the government has begun felling apple trees on forest land, which has triggered opposition from all quarters,” he said.
He said that the government should refrain from becoming a mmockery by taking this matter to the Supreme Court
Kumar suggested, “The government should fence off the occupied land, install a board declaring that it now belongs to the Forest Department, and allow the trees to stand. This would fulfill the court’s order, end the encroachment, and preserve the apple crop.”
He said that by taking such action, the order of the High Court will be followed besides illegal occupation will also end and apple crop will also be saved and the forest department will become the owner of the garden.
He alleged that the decision to approach the Supreme Court may be under the influence of powerful individuals who have illegally occupied the forest land, many of them are politicians. “It seems the real intent is to delay action until the current apple crop is harvested,” he claimed.
He suspect that the real intention of the influential persons is to delay the implementation of the order and harvest the apple crop grown on the illegally occupied land this time.
Shanta Kumar said that the government should not misinterpret the High Court ruling as the order do not envisage the felling of trees.
