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The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023
Marked by incoherence, conflict with the other laws covering the field, and undefined expressions, the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act is not only an affront to the rule of law but a vehicle for exploitation of forests rather than their conservation achieved through shrinking the notion of forest itself, constricting the idea of “non-forest purpose” and excluding the categories of forestland from the purview of the legislation.
Epitomising the converse of what it claims to secure and promote, the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act (FCAA) 2023, demonstrates prioritisation of the dominant notion of development over conservation of forests. What the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980 did restrictively, the FCAA does it so expansively that it not only annihilates the former but also the spirit of conservation itself. What is interesting is the mirage of care and augmentation of forest it tries to create, which a closer reading of the act demolishes. The FCAA is geared more towards meeting economic, defence and infrastructural imperatives rather than the stated purpose of conservation and enrichment of forests.
Proclaiming Ends without Identifying Means
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