JharKhand to file review petition against SC order on evicting tribals, forest-dwellers

The Jharkhand government on Monday decided to file a review petition in the Supreme Court in connection with the top court's order relating to eviction of tribals and forest-dwellers after their claim over forest land was rejected.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das issued the directions to file a review petition, after going through the Supreme Court's order, an official release said here.

Das said his government was fully committed to protect the interests of the tribals and forest-dwellers of the state.

On February 21, the Supreme Court had asked 21 states to apprise it of the action taken by them as regards the eviction of tribals and forest-dwellers, whose claim over forest land was rejected.

The apex court, in its February 13 order, had asked the chief secretaries of the states concerned to file affidavits stating whether those against whom the rejection orders were passed were evicted or not and if not, the reasons for the same.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra was dealing with a batch of petitions on the issue that were filed in the apex court over a period since 2006.

The states that had come under the scanner of the top court were -- Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Manipur.

The bench perused the affidavits of all the states and passed orders accordingly like if the task had not been carried out, the reasons for it had to be given.

The court said in case of any difficulty, the states would have to come out with the details about such issues and if the orders were complied with, the same be also disclosed.

It asked the chief secretaries of these states to file their respective affidavits by July 12 and posted the matter for hearing on July 24.