Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 1990CriLJ131
..... under the said sub-section the concerned officer is authorizes, if he has reason to believe that a vehicle has been or is being used for the transport of the forest produce in respect of which there is reason to believe that a forest offence has been or is being committed, to require the driver or a person incharge of such vehicle to stop the same cause it to remain stationary for the purpose of examining the contents of the vehicle and ..... which has been the subject-matter of the controversy raised by the contending parties, is whether a vehicle which has not actually been used for the purpose of committing any forest offence is liable for seizure and confiscation under the provisions of chapter ix of the indian forest act the further question that has been raised by the contending parties is whether under the state amendments, viz. ..... or police officer may, if he has reason to believe that a vehicle has been or is being used for the transport of forest produce in respect of which there is reason to believe a forest offence has been or is being committed, required the driver or other person incharge of such vehicle to stop the vehicle and cause it to remain stationary as long as may reasonably be necessary to examine the ..... of the witnesses that the said tempo had been used for transport of forest produce in the past cannot, in our view, justify an inference that the tempo was used in committing a forest offence with which the driver, cleaner and two others are being sought to .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 2008(1)ALLMR497
..... are of the considered view that when any vehicle is seized on the allegation that it was used for committing a forest offence, the same shall not normally be returned to a party till the culmination of all the proceedings in respect of such offence, including confiscatory proceedings, if any.the facts of the case in hand are almost similar to those of k.krishnans ..... or police officer may, if he has reason to believe that a vehicle has been or is being used for the transport of forest produce in respect of which there is a reason to believe that a forest offence has been or is being committed, require the driver or other person in charge of such vehicle to stop the vehicle and cause it to remain stationary as long as may reasonably be necessary examination of the contents ..... sub-section (2-a) of section 44 of the act on his being satisfied that a forest offence had been committed in respect thereof, is not dependent upon whether a criminal prosecution for commission of a forest offence has been launched against the offender or not. ..... any) in which it is contained, a mark indicating that the same has been so seized and make a report of such seizure to the magistrate having jurisdiction to try the offence on account of which the seizure has been made provided that when the forest produce with respect to which such offence is believed to have been committed is the property of government, and the offender is unknown, it shall be sufficient if the officer makes, as soon as may be, a report .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : (1989)91BOMLR134; 1990CriLJ163; 1989MhLJ780
..... 52 any timber, sandalwood, firewood, charcoal or any other notified forest-produce which is the property of the state government or any such property is produced before an authorised officer under sub-section (1) and he is satistied that a forest-offence has been committed in respect of such property, such authorised officer may, whether or not a prosecution is instituted for the commission of such forest-offence, order confiscation of the property so seized together with all tools, boats ..... anything contained in the foregoing provision of this chapter or any other law, where a forest offence is believed to have been committed in respect of timber, sandalwood, firewood, charcoal or any other notified forest produce which is the property of the state government, the officer seizing the property under ..... of the act relevant for the purposes of adjudication of the points involved may be made first.section 2(1) of the act defines the term 'cattle', section 2(3) the term 'forest-offence', section 2(6) the term 'timber' and section 2(7) the term 'tree'. ..... the owners of cattle, who generally do not commit such forest offences themselves and employ servants for the same. ..... after holding enquiry recorded a belief that forest offence of pasturing cattle and/or permitting cattle ..... specifically deals with the cattle trespass and no change is brought about in the said provision, it should be held that legislative intent was to exclude the forest offence of cattle trespass from the operation of s. .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 1988(1)BomCR26; (1987)89BOMLR530; 1987MhLJ1035
..... , on the authorised officer under sub-section (2-a) of section 44 of the act on his being satisfied that a forest offence had been committed in respect thereof, is not dependent upon whether a criminal prosecution for commission of a forest offence has been launched against the offender or not. ..... under section 45 of the act as it stood, where a person was convicted of a forest offence, the court sentencing him was empowered to order confiscation to the government of timber or forest produce in respect of which a forest offence was committed and of any tool, boat, vehicle other than a cart drawn by animals vessels or other conveyance or any other article used in committing such offence. ..... the order could be passed where a forest offence his believed to have been committed, in respect of timber, sandalwood, firewood, charcoal or any other notified forest produce which is the property of state government. ..... in view of this, the forest department was finding it difficult to curb the forest offences effectively and quickly inspite of the fact that large scale falling and smuggling of forest produce was on the increase. ..... , used for committing forest offences even in a case where he was satisfied that a forest offence had been committed. ..... , if he is satisfied that a forest offence has been committed, irrespective of the fact whether the accused is facing a trial before a magistrate for the commission of an offence under section 20 or 29 of the act. .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 2003(4)MhLj181
..... obviously, therefore, once a report is made by the seizing officer under section 52(2) proviso to the superior officer in relation to the forest produce or the property seized under the said provision of law, under the belief that the forest offence has been committed in relation to a forest produce, which is the property of the government, the authorised officer and the authorised officer alone under section 61a is empowered to make order as regards the custody, possession, delivery, ..... seizes under sub-section (1) of section 52 any timber or any other notified forest-produce which is the property of the state government or any such property is produced before an authorised officer under section (1) and he is satisfied that a forest-offence has been committed in respect of such property, such authorised officer may, whether or not a prosecution is instituted for the commission of such forest-offence, order confiscation of the property so seized together with vehicle used in committing such ..... other provisions of chapter ix of the said act or any other law, where a forest-offence is believed to have been committed in respect of timber or any other notified forest-produce which is the property of the state government, the officer seizing the property under sub-section (1) of section 52 shall without any unreasonable delay produce it, together with vehicles used in committing such offences, before an officer authorised by the state government in that behalf by notification in the .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 2006(1)MhLj561
..... officer himself seizes any timber, sandalwood, firewood, charcoal or any other notified forest-produce, which is the property of the state government, or any such property is produced before an authorised officer and if he is satisfied that a forest-offence has been committed in respect of such forest property, such authorised officer may, whether or not a prosecution is instituted for the commission of such forest-offence, order confiscation of the property so seized together with all tools, boats, ..... under section 61-a if the owner of the tool, boat, vehicle or cattle proves to the satisfaction of the authorised officer that it was used in carrying the timber, sandalwood, firewood, charcoal or any other notified forest-produce without the knowledge or connivance of the owner himself, his agent, if any and the person in charge of the tool, boat, vehicle or cattle and that each of them had taken all reasonable and necessary ..... be disputed for the purpose of this petition that seizure of sandal wood in the vehicle belonging to the petitioners is sufficient to indicate that a forest-offence has been committed. ..... meshram has never been involved in any offence, muchless a forest-offence. ..... were caught and masters escaped that the salutary provision in the form of section 55 of the act had been introduced so that not only all produce in respect of which the offence has been committed may be seized and confiscated but also tools, boats, carts or cattle used in the commission of any such .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 1986(3)BomCR613
..... on the other hand, shri agarwal, submitted that the forest offences can be divided into three parts, viz. ..... the provisions of section 52 of the act, therefore, empowers the range forest officer to seize the forest produce together with all tools, boats, vehicles or cattle used in committing a forest offence. ..... in the facts and circumstances, i feel that a prima facie case is made out by the prosecution that there is a reason to believe that a forest offence is committed in respect of the forest produce. ..... for taking action under section 52, the prosecution has to satisfy that a forest offence has been committed in respect of the forest produce. ..... a very short question, therefore, arises for my consideration is whether the provisions of section 52 of the act empower the forest authority to seal the machinery of the saw mill and whether the word 'tool' includes the machines which are used in the saw mill for cutting wood.8. ..... he also sealed the machinery of the saw mill as he had reason to believe that an offence in respect of the forest produce was being committed. ..... he, therefore, submitted that even if a prima facie case is disclosed against the petitioner, the forest authorities are not empowered to seal the machinery of the saw mill either under the act or under the rules. ..... the submission of shri kankaria that the provisions of section 52 of the act do not empower the forest authority to seal the machinery in the saw mill, cannot, therefore, be accepted.12. .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 1995(1)BomCR266
..... this application raises an important question as to whether the statements recorded by the range forest officer of the accused, during the investigation of a forest offence under the indian forests act, 1927, are hit by section 25 or 30 of the evidence act. ..... ;(b) the power of a civil court to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents and material objects;(c) power to issue a search warrant under the code of criminal procedure, 1898 (v of 1898); or(d) power to held an inquiry into forest offences and, in the course of such inquiry, to receive and record evidence. ..... the forest offences are punishable under sections 33 and 26 of the forest act. ..... , which enable the forest officer to arrest the person without warrant and also to release the person involved in the forest offence on bond.7. ..... 8 and 9 in the original complaint had to be discharged because except their statements and the statements of other accused, there was no other independent evidence to involve them in the forest offence. ..... section 33 relates to reserved forests and offence committed therein whereas section 26 deals generally with the offences for falling trees, trespassing in the forest land, putting quarries of stones etc. ..... the petitioner is involved in an offence under section 52 of the indian forest act read with rule 64 of the g.d.d. .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 2006(1)MhLj606
..... in this case, the authorised officer was satisfied that a forest offence had been committed and that the tractor and trolley had been used in committing such offence. 16. ..... they were seized by him and a forest offence was registered. ..... the condition precedent for initiating the confiscation proceedings is commission of the forest offence. ..... persons considered by the authorised officer in this case would be at the best akin to admissions or former statements of witnesses, which would suggest an inference as to a fact in issue or relevant fact, namely, use of the tractor and trolley in commission of a forest offence. ..... therefore, according to the respondents, there was enough material before the authorised officer to conclude that the tractor and trolley had been used in commission of a forest offence. ..... the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the consequences of relying on such statements would be giving freedom to the forest officers to concoct any statement they please and say that it was a statement made by the person concerned. ..... from complying with the principles of natural justice, the authorised officer has also complied with the requirements of sections 61-a to 61-g of the forest act by giving full opportunity to the petitioner after supplying the petitioner all the relevant material. ..... statements recorded by the forest officer do not fall in the category of 'confession', since a confession could be made only by a person, who is accused of an offence confessing to his crime. .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 2005(1)MhLj129
..... (g) on the face of lack of prior permission as contemplated by section 2 of the forest (conservation) act, 1980, the wcl-employer- company of the applicants continued to run the mining activities and it is in this background that the forest offence came to be registered.5. ..... (iii) the coal bearing act and law relating to mining have got overriding effect, and in any eventuality, no illegality was committed by the applicants and no offence was committed by them,(iv) in order to substantiate that no illegality was committed and that the applicants are entitled for being released on anticipatory bail, and as to conditions as regards bail, and need or otherwise of custodial interrogation, reliance is ..... however, as narrated earlier, parties are concurrent on the point that when first mining lease of two years was granted, it was with prior permission of the central government as provided under section 2 of the forest (conservation) act, 1980 and that fresh permission is now sought for, but is pending decision and has not yet been granted. ..... the range forest officer (protection), chandrapur has registered an offence punishable under section 26(l)(g) of the indian forest act against the present applicants being por no. ..... after having regard to the facts which are having no controversy between the parlies, and having regard to admitted position that prior permission under section 2 of the forest (conservation) act having not secured thereby prima facie an offence has been committed. .....
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