The Supreme Court of India has great responsibility in upholding the constitutional claims, but the recent judgment on eviction of forest dwellers tends to undermine its reputation. Analyze (200 Words)
Refer - The Hindu
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IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
· The Supreme court has recently ordered the eviction of lakhs of people whose claims as forest dwellers have been rejected under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, or FRA.
· This order negates the claims of citizens under special protection of the Constitution, viz. the Scheduled Tribes and other vulnerable communities.
· According to Xaxa Committee on tribal welfare, 60% of the forest area in the country is in tribal areas — protected by Article 19(5) and Schedules V and VI of the Constitution.
The Xaxa Committee observed that claims are being rejected without assigning reasons,
(A) Based on wrong interpretation of the Other Traditional Forest Dwellers definition
(B) Simply for lack of evidence
(C) Absence of GPS survey (lacunae which only require the claim to be referred back to the lower-level body).
(D) Because the land is wrongly considered as ‘not forest land’, or because only forest offence receipts are considered as adequate evidence.
· The rejections are not being communicated to the claimants, and their right to appeal is not being explained to them.
· These observation proves that flaws exists in administration mechanism and the executives are solely responsible for it. But the recent Supreme Court order tends to undermine the essence of Checks and balances implied in the constitution of India.
· Further the order violates, Article 19(5) in the Fundamental Rights chapter of the Indian Constitution, which specifically enjoins the state to make laws “for the protection of the interests of any Scheduled Tribe”, is vital.
· As the order tends to violate the essence of Fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India, Supreme court now needs to review its order on eviction of Tribal dwellers and preserve the social justice in the Indian Society.
AP 5 years
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Nandadeep 5 years
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