1[64A. Penalty for unauthorisedly taking possession of land constituted as reserved forest,2[district forest, village forest, protected forest and any other land under the control of the Forest Department]
(1) Any person unauthorisedly occupying any land in reserved forest,2[district forest, village forest, protected forest and any other land under the control of the Forest Department] may, without prejudice to any other action that may be taken against him under any other provision of this Act or any other law for the time being in force, be summarily evicted, by a Forest Officer not below the rank of an Assistant Conservator of Forests and any crop including trees raised in the land and any building or other construction erected thereon shall, if not removed by him within such time as the Forest Officer may fix, be liable to forfeiture:
Provided that before evicting a person under this sub-section he shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
(2) Any property forfeited under sub-section (1) shall be disposed of in such manner as the Forest Officer may direct and the cost of removal of any crop, building or other work and of all works necessary to restore the land to its original condition shall be recoverable from the person evicted in the manner provided in section 109.
(3) Any person aggrieved by an order of the Forest Officer under sub-section (1) may, within such period and in such manner as may be prescribed, appeal against such order to the State Government or to such officer as may be authorised by the State Government in this behalf and the order of the Forest Officer shall, subject to the decision in such appeal, be final.]1
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1. Inserted by Act 23 of 1974 w.e.f. 16.9.1974.
2. Inserted by Act 12 of 1998 w.e.f. 11.5.1998.