On the 11th of November, the Telangana High Court issued notice to the State Government regarding forest land of tribals.
On Thursday, a division bench of the Telangana HC headed by the Chief Justice Mr. Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Mr. A. Rajashekar Reddy heard a public interest litigation (PIL.) Mr. P.L. Vishweshwar, a retired professor, filed the PIL against the Forest and Revenue Department officials of the State Government. According to the PIL, forest officials and revenue officials were forcibly evicting tribals from their farmlands.
It is to be noted, Mr. K. Chandrashekar Rao, the Chief Minister of Telangana, directed the concerned forest officials to evict landless and non tribal farmers inside forests. The decision was taken to combat deforestation and non tribal people from using forest lands for cultivation and agriculture. However, the forest people opposed the move of the State Government, following which Mr. P.L. Vishweshwar filed a PIL in the High Court.
Mr. Chikkudu Prabhakar, the Counsel representing the petitioner, urged the Telangana HC to issue an interim order, restricting officials from evicting tribals from their farm lands. Considering the PIL, the Telangana HC issued the notice and asked the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Government and concerned officials and government departments to respond to the notice by the 21st of January.
In brief, the notice regarding the same has been issued to various government departments including the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment, the Government of India, the Chief Secretary of Telangana, principal secretaries of Telangana Forest Department, Telangana Revenue Department, the Tribal Welfare Department, The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests in Telangana, district collectors of Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Mahabubabad, Mulugu, Mancherial, Adilabad, Nirmal, Rajanna-Sircilla, Jagityal, Komaram Bheem-Asifabad and the District Forest Officers of the respective districts.
The hearing related to the eviction of tribals from their farmland is expected to be held after the 21st of January.
Stay tuned for further updates.
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