More than 100 tribal and forest dwellers’ rights organisations on Thursday urged the central and state governments to fulfil their constitutional duty and defend the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in court.
The Supreme Court is set to hear the case ‘Wildlife First and Ors vs Union of India and Ors’ on April 2. The organisations said this case challenges the constitutionality of the FRA, 2006 — a law passed after a nationwide movement demanding recognition of the rights of traditional forest-dwelling communities, mostly tribal people.
“An upcoming Supreme Court hearing may again result in eviction orders against millions of people — people whose rights have been illegally denied. We call upon the central and state governments to defend the rights of India’s tribals and forest dwellers and to stop trying to use court orders, internal sabotage and blatant illegality against our country’s most oppressed people,” the groups said in an open letter.
They said the FRA was meant to correct the “historic injustice” caused by India’s forest laws.
“But the law has been grossly violated by both the central and the state governments and huge numbers of claims for rights have been illegally rejected,” they said.
In 2019, more than 17 lakh families faced eviction before the court put the order on hold. A wildlife NGO had sought the eviction of people whose FRA claims were rejected, even though many were denied illegally.
Following nationwide protests, the court ordered a review of rejected claims in February 2019. However, the groups alleged that the review process remained flawed, with both central and state governments failing to sincerely implement the law.
The organisations demanded that on April 2, the central and state governments must clearly tell the Supreme Court that the FRA is fully constitutional and that the review and recognition of claims must continue.
“The case should be dismissed,” they said.
They urged the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) to ensure that the review of rejected claims follows clear guidelines, upholding the gram sabha as the primary decision-making body.
The ministry should issue binding directives to prevent arbitrary rejections, require reasoned orders and mandate the use of multiple forms of evidence, including oral testimonies and local verification, they said.
“No eviction and relocation from tiger reserves and other protected areas should take place until all claims, including those under review, have been processed in compliance with FRA,” they said.
The groups also stressed that forest land diversion for mining, infrastructure and conservation must strictly follow FRA provisions, especially the requirement of free, prior and informed gram sabha consent.
