Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 with Amendments Made in

1988

An Act to provide Ior the conservation oI Iorests and Ior matters connected
therewith or ancillary or incidental thereto.
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-Iirst Year oI the Republic oI India as
Iollows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement.
(1) This Act may be called the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
(2) It extends to the whole oI India except the State oI Jammu and Kashmir.
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into Iorce on the 25th day oI October,
1980.
2. Restriction on the dereservation of forests or use of forest land for non-
forest purpose.
Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law Ior the time being in Iorce in
a State, no State Government or other authority shall make, except with the prior
approval oI the Central Government, any order directing-
(i) that any reserved Iorest (within the meaning oI the expression "reserved
Iorest" in any law Ior the time being in Iorce in that State) or any portion
thereoI, shall cease to be reserved;
(ii) that any Iorest land or any portion thereoI may be used Ior any non-
Iorest purpose;
(iii) that any Iorest land or any portion thereoI may be assigned by way oI
lease or otherwise to any private person or to any authority, corporation,
agency or any other organisation not owned, managed or controlled by
Government;
(iv) that any Iorest land or any portion thereoI may be cleared oI trees which
have grown naturally in that land or portion, Ior the purpose oI using it Ior
reaIIorestation.
Explanation - For the porpose oI this section, "non-Iorest purpose" means the
breaking up or clearing oI any Iorest land or portion thereoI Ior-
(a) the cultivation oI tea, coIIee, spices, rubber, palms, oil-bearing plants,
horticultural crops or medicinal plants;
(b) any purpose other than reaIIorestation;
but does not include any work relating or ancillary to conservation,
development and management oI Iorests and wildliIe, namely, the
establishment oI check-posts, Iire lines, wireless communications and
construction oI Iencing, bridges and culverts, dams, waterholes, trench
marks, boundary marks, pipelines or other like purposes.
. Constitution of Advisory Committee.
The Central Government may constitute a Committee consisting oI such number oI
persons as h may deem Iit to advise that Government with regard to-
(i) the grant oI approval. under Section 2; and
(ii) any other matter connected with the conservation oI Iorests which may
be reIerred to h by the Central Government.
A. Penalty for contravention of the provisions of the Act.
Whoever contravenes or abets the contravention oI any oI the provisions oI Section
2, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment Ior a period which may extend to
IiIteen days.
. Offences by the Authorities and Government Departments.
(1) Where any oIIence under this Act has been committed -
(a) by any department oI Government, the head oI the department; or
(b) by any authority, every person who, at the time the oIIence was
committed, was directly in charge oI, and was responsible to, the authority
Ior the conduct oI the business oI the authority as well as the authority;
shall be deemed to be guilty oI the oIIence and shall be liable to be proceeded
against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render the head oI
the department or any person reIerred to in clause (b), liable to any
punishment iI he proves that the oIIence was committed without his
knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission
oI such oIIence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an oIIence
punishable under the Act has been committed by a department oI
Government or any authority reIerred to in clause (b) oI sub-section (1) and
it is proved that the oIIence has been committed with the consent or
connivance oI; or is attributable to any neglect on the part oI any oIIicer,
other than the head oI the department, or in the case oI an authority, any
person other than the persons reIerred to in clause (b) oI sub-section (1),
such oIIicer or persons shall also be deemed to be guilty oI that oIIence and
shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
. Power to make rules.
(1) The Central Government may, by notiIication in the OIIicial Gazette,
makes rules Ior carrying out the provisions oI this Act.
(2) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be aIter it is
made, beIore each House oI Parliament, while it is in session, Ior a total
period oI thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or
more successive sessions, and iI, beIore the expiry oI the session
immediately Iollowing the session or the successive sessions aIoresaid, both
Houses agree in making any modiIication in the rule or both Houses agree
that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereaIter have eIIect only in
such modiIied Iorm or be oI no eIIect, as the case may be; so, however, that
any such modiIication or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity
oI anything previously done under that rule.

. Repeal and saving.
(1) The Forest (Conservation) Ordinance, 1980 is hereby replaced.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under
the provisions oI the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or
taken under the corresponding provisions oI this Act.