Commercial cultivation within forest land not protected under FRA, 2006: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI The Supreme Court has made it clear that commercial crop cultivation within reserve forest areas is not protected under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. The court has distinguished commercial cultivators and plantation owners from forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers, who have lived in forests for generations and depend on them for livelihood.

Their rights are protected under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, commonly known as the FRA. A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta recorded the court’s view in an order concerning extensive silk cotton cultivation within the reserve forests of the Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve.