The Kerala Forest (Amendment) Act, 1980 [1] Complete Act - Bare Act

An Act further to amend the Kerala Forest Act, 1961 .

Preamble.- WHEREAS it is expedient further to amend the Kerala Forest Act, 1961, for the purposes hereinafter appearing;

BE it enacted in the Thirty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

1. Short title and commencement .- (1) This Act may be called the Kerala Forest (Amendment) Act, 1980.

(2) Section 2 and 3 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1 st day of June 1980 and the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force at once.

2. Insertion of new section 12A .-After section 12 of the Kerala Forest Act, 1961 (4 of 1962) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), the following section shall be inserted, namely:-

"12A. Appeal to the High Court .- (1) The Government or any person objecting to any order of the District Court in an appeal under section 11 may, within a period of ninety days from the date of that order, appeal against such order to the High Court:

Provided that the High Court may admit an appeal preferred after the expiration of the period of ninety days aforesaid, if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within the said period.

(2) An appeal under sub-section (1) shall be in the prescribed form and shall be verified in the prescribed manner and shall be accompanied by a fee of one hundred rupees.

(3) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the High Court may, after giving the parties a reasonable opportunity of being heard, either in person or by a representative,-

(a) confirm or cancel the order of the District Court appealed against; or

(b) set aside such order and remand the case to the District Court for decision after such further enquiry as may be directed; or

(c) pass such other orders as it may think fit.

(4) Every order passed in appeal under this section shall be final.

(5) Any order passed by the High Court under this section shall be enforceable by the District Court within whose jurisdiction the land is situated, as if it were a decree passed by such District Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act 5 of 1908).".

3. Amendment of section 14.-In section 14 of the principal Act, for clause (d), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-

"(d) an appeal, if any, presented under section 11 has been disposed of by the District Court, and-

(i) the period fixed for an appeal to the High Court against the order of the District Court in such appeal has elapsed; or

(ii) an appeal to the High Court against the order of the District Court in such appeal has been disposed of by the High Court,".

4. Transitory provision .- Notwithstanding anything contained in any law, or in any judgment, decree or order of any court, the Government or any person objecting to any order of the District Court in an appeal under section 11, made after the 1 st day of June, 1980 and before the date of publication of the Kerala Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 1980 (8 of 1980), in the Gazette, may, within a period of ninety days from the date of such publication, appeal to the High Court against such order, and the provisions of sub-sections (2) to (5) (both inclusive) of section 12A of the principal Act as amended by this Act shall apply in respect of such appeal.

5. Repeal and saving .- (1) The Kerala Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 1980 (8 of 1980), is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Ordinance or under the principal Act as amended by the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under this Act or, as the case may be, under the principal Act as amended by this Act.