IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI W.P.(PIL) No. 4067 of 2016 Mahesh Rai ….........Petitioner Vrs. 1.The State of Jharkhand through the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Jharkhand, Ranchi 2.Principal Secretary, Environment & Forest Dept., Govt. of Jharkhand, Ranchi 3.Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Govt. of Jharkhand, Ranchi 4.Chief Wildlife Warden, Govt. of Jharkhand, Ranchi 5.Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India, Indira Paryawaran Bhawan, New Delhi through its Secretary. 6.Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India (ESZ-Division), New Delhi ….......... Respondents ….... CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE APARESH KUMAR SINGH HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE B. B. MANGALMURTI For the Petitioner : Mr. A.K.Sahani For the Respondents : Mr. Vikash Kumar, J.C to A.G. :Mr. Rajiv Sinha, A.S.G.I , B.K.Prasad, J.C to ASGI1328.11.2017 A counter affidavit has been filed on 24.11.2017 on behalf of the Respondent no.5 and 6, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India. Reference is made to our order dated 16.12.2016 when 3 weeks time was granted to Respondent no.2,3 and 4 to come out with specific affidavit in the matter in relation to the status of declaration of Eco Sensitive Zones (ESZs) within the State. This was in the light of the serious concern shown by the petitioner in the larger public interest as despite correspondence made by the Deputy Inspector General of Forest ( Wild Life), MoEF &CC, Government of India to the Chief Wildlife Warden, Government of Jharkhand dated 23.6.2016, the process for declaration of ESZs had not progressed further.
2. An affidavit was filed thereafter on 25.4.2017. As the said affidavit did not address the issues referred to in our order dated 16.12.2016, it was only by way of an affidavit dated 11.9.2017 filed by the Deputy Conservator of Forests and Field Director, Elephant Project, Jamshedpur(Dalma) that the State Respondents conveyed that the draft notification for declaration of ESZs of 10 protected areas of Jharkhand have been forwarded to the MoEF &CC, Government of India by the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change through letter dated 16.5.2017 for further necessary action. The order dated 12.9.2017 reflects our anxiety that the decision in the matter of declaration of ESZs does not get delayed any further considering its importance in the preservation of Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Park. We also observed that the said affidavit besides enclosing the letter dated 16.5.2017 had been silent on any details relating to the specific shortcomings -2- or additional documents, which were provided in the fresh draft proposal as were found wanting in the earlier proposal. The matter was adjourned again for 3 weeks to be listed on 9.10.2017.
3. On 09.10.2017, in order to ascertain the progress of the file related to declaration of the ESZs, we considered it proper to implead MoEF & CC, Government of India through its Secretary and the Additional Secretary, MoEF &CC, Govt. of India (ESZ-Division), New Delhi. Learned A.S.G.I was asked to obtain instruction about the status of the proposal contained in the letter dated 16.5.2017 forwarded by the Special Secretary, Dept. of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Government of Jharkhand and also the details of the progress of the proposal.
4. The MoEF&CC has filed an affidavit dated 24.11.2017 in response thereof detailing the status of the proposal and the various steps and the stages which it has to cross before the final publication is to be made. From the statement made at para 4 of this affidavit it is clear that the revised proposal of the State of Jharkhand of 11 protected areas for declaration of ESZs got received on 9.10.2017 in MoEF&CC though the respondent authorities are stated to have sent it on 16.05.2017 itself. Thereafter steps for publication of the draft notification has been taken. Learned A.S.G.I has taken us through the contents of the affidavit, which details the different stages through which the proposal has to undergo. As per the flow chart the final ESZ notification is published within 545 days after issuance of the draft notification, which is also on a case to case basis. The stages are as follows:- (I) Revised proposal for 11 protected areas from the Government of Jharkhand received on 9.10.2017. (II) Statutory provisions (i) under Section 5C(1) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; (ii) Section 3(2)(V) of the Environment Protection Act, 1986; and (iii) Section 5(1) of the Environment Protection Rules, 1986 are the compliances required to be made by the MoEF&CC towards publication of the final ESZ notification. (III) Under the E.P.Act, 1986, the final ESZ Notifications are published within 545 days after issuing the Draft Notification. Thus, on a case to case basis, the usual time frames vary. (IV) The approval for ESZ around the protected areas flow in six steps (i) preparation of ESZ proposal by State Government;(ii) evaluation by the Wildlife Institute of India(WII);(iii) approval of Wildlife Division;(iv) publication of Draft Notification by ESZ Division;(v) approval of ESZ Expert committee and ;(vi) publication of Final Notification involving several steps such as:- “a) State Government with local stakeholder consultation prepares the proposal for the Eco-sensitive Zone around a Protected Area and with the due approval process in the State submit the proposal to the Wildlife Division of this Ministry. b) On receipt of the proposal from the State Government, the -3- Wildlife Division send the proposal to Wildlife Institute of India(WII) for its evaluation. Once approved by the WII the Wildlife Division send the proposal to the ESZ division for publishing the Notification. c) ESZ Division, with a thorough check prepares the text for Draft ESZ Notification. With the approval of the Hon'ble Minister the Draft Text is sent to the OL(Official Language) Division for Hindi Translation. Then it is published by the Government of India Press. d) The Draft Notification so published is kept in the Ministry's website for 60 days for receiving stakeholder comments. The comments so received are sent to the State Governments for their consideration and incorporation in their Proposal. e) Meetings of the multi-disciplinary Expert Committee are arranged for considering the ESZ proposals those completed 60 days in public domain. Members of the Expert Committee are provided details of the proposal, comments received from stakeholders and observations of the ESZ Division in advance. f) State Governments are intimated to for presenting their proposals in the Expert Committee meeting. The shortcomings in proposals are intimated during the Meeting and same are recorded in the proceedings and circulated along with the Minutes of the Meeting. The Minutes are also placed on the Ministry's website for further reference. Additional communications are also sent to the state for providing the details for finalizing their proposals. g) Once the complete information of the proposals is in place, the process for Final Notification for ESZ is initiated. Draft text of the Final Notification is prepared and with the approval of the Hon'ble Minister, the draft Text is sent to the Ministry of Law and Justice(MoLJ) for legal Vetting and Hindi Translation and then to the Government of India Press for publishing it in the Gazette”.
4. Learned A.S.G.I. submits that as per the affidavit of Respondent No.4 on 30.10.2017, it would be evident that till 25.10.2017 the proposal is pending with Wild Life Division as the short falls required for processing for the draft notification is still under consideration. Therefore, the proposal is at the stage of processing of the draft notification. The Respondent -MoEF&CC has at para 6 of the affidavit stated that at least 8 month time will be required for final publication of the said ESZ notification, of course depending upon case to case basis and compliances on various stages.
5. From the narrative recorded above, it is clear as noon that there has been not only considerable delay in sending the proposal for declaration of ESZs of the protected areas of the State but there has been lack of follow up as well. The affidavit of the Respondent State dated 11.9.2017 conveyed to us that the draft proposal has been sent on 16.5.2017 itself to the Additional Secretary, MoEF&CC (ESZ Division), Government of India through letter no. 2053 issued by the Special Secretary, Department of Forest, Environment and -4- Climate Change, Government of Jharkhand. As it transpires, the proposal was received by the MoEF&CC, Government of India on 9.10.2017 only, about 5 months thereafter. This despite the fact that the matter is being monitored by this Court in the instant PIL otherwise, perhaps it could have been delayed further. Someone should be made accountable for the processing of these files and follow ups. Accountability in administration should always be their in larger interest of governance, otherwise such important schemes, projects and decisions get unnecessarily delayed and suffer due to red tape.
6. We therefore, consider it proper to ask the Secretary, Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Governance of Jharkhand to enquire into the matter and fix accountability on the person responsible for such tardy progress and follow up of the files. Let it be done within a period of 3 weeks from today. We also feel it necessary to direct Respondent no.2, Principal Secretary, Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Govt. of Jharkhand, Ranchi to appoint a sufficiently high rank officer in the Department as a Nodal Officer to monitor and follow up proposal with the MoEF&CC, Government of India on a regular basis from now onwards so that the proposal does not get delayed further from the stand point of view of the State Government. Respondent No.2 would communicate the outcome of the enquiry to the Chief Secretary of the State as well for corrective action and bring it on record by way of an affidavit by the next date.
7. Post this matter in the second week of January, 2018. (Aparesh Kumar Singh, J.) (B.B.Mangalmurti, J.) A.Mohanty