Daily Prelims Notes 30 April 2024

Daily Prelims Notes

30 April 2024

1. Why are unclassed forests ‘missing’?

Subject: Environment

Sec: Environment Laws

Context:

• In response to a Supreme Court order from February 19, 2024, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) published the reports of various State Expert Committees (SEC) on its website in early April.
• These reports, a response to public interest litigation, address concerns about the constitutionality of the 2023 Forest (Conservation) Act Amendment, particularly the identification and status of unclassed forests.

What does the FCAA stipulate?

• The Forest (Conservation) Act Amendment (FCAA) results in unclassed forests, previously protected under the 1996 T.N. Godavarman Thirumalpad case, losing their legal protection.
• This exposes these forests to potential diversion.
• The State Expert Committee (SEC) reports were mandated to define ‘forests’ broadly, including all categories regardless of ownership or notification status, under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. 
• Consequently, any diversion of unclassed or deemed forests for non-forest purposes now requires approval from the Central government.
• These unclassed forests can include lands owned by various government entities, community forests, or privately owned areas, even if they are not officially designated as forests.

Have these forests been identified?

• The identification of unclassed forests remains unclear.
• Initially, their status was not known from 1996 until the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) indicated to a Joint Parliamentary Committee that State Expert Committees (SECs) had identified such forests, countering criticisms that the amended Forest (Conservation) Act would ignore these lands.
• Despite this assurance, a response to a January 17 RTI application revealed that the MoEFCC did not possess the necessary reports.
• Recent uploads of SEC reports to the MoEFCC website show that no state has provided concrete data on the identification, status, or location of unclassed forests. 
• Additionally, seven States and Union Territories have not established their SECs, and although 23 States submitted reports, only 17 comply with the Supreme Court’s guidelines.

What do the reports say?

• The State Expert Committee (SEC) reports reveal that only nine States have detailed the extent of unclassed forests.
• Most states and union territories provided only general information about different types of forest areas, such as those under government, forest, or revenue department control, and rarely included forests under other government departments.
• Additionally, geographic locations for these forests were largely unspecified, with any provided data focusing on reserve or protected forests—information that is already accessible through Forest Departments.
• The reports also cast doubt on the accuracy of the Forest Survey of India’s data, as seen in discrepancies like Gujarat’s SEC report listing its unclassed forests at 192.24 square kilometers versus the Forest Survey’s much higher figure of 4,577 square kilometers from 1995-1999.
• Furthermore, the lack of on-ground verification by the SECs has been linked to potential large-scale destruction of these forests, which were supposed to have been identified and protected starting 27 years ago.
• The absence of baseline data from 1996-1997 makes it impossible to quantify how much unclassed forest land has been lost, exemplified by the omission of Kerala’s ecologically sensitive Pallivasal unreserve in the reports, an area significantly affected by the 2018 floods.

Implication:

• This failure undermines the goals of the Indian Forest Policy, which aims for significant forest coverage of 33.3% in plains and 66.6% in hilly areas.

Key features of the Forest Act:

Source: TH

2. What Election Commission can do if normal polling process is disrupted

Subject: Polity

Sec: Elections

Context:

• The Election Commission of India (EC), under Sections 58(2) and 58A(2) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (RPA), declared void the poll on April 19, in 11 polling stations of Manipur, and 8 polling stations of Arunachal Pradesh.

Circumstances when the normal polling process is disrupted — and the options before the EC in each case are as follows:

Intentional destruction, taking away of EVMs:

• Under Section 58 of the RPA (‘Fresh poll in the case of destruction, etc., of ballot boxes’), the EC can declare the poll at a polling station to be void if:
  • an unauthorized person has unlawfully taken away any EVM;
  • any EVM has been accidentally or intentionally destroyed, or lost, or damaged, or tampered with; or
  • a mechanical failure develops in any EVM during the recording of votes.
• The Returning Officer (RO) immediately informs the EC and the Chief Electoral Officer of the state about the relevant facts and material circumstances, after considering which, the EC can declare the poll void and formally fix the date and time for a new poll.
• The contesting candidates or their election agents are then informed, in writing.
• During the repoll, the voters’ left middle fingers are inked to distinguish between the mark made during the original poll (on their left forefinger).

Booth capturing:

• Booth-capturing, defined in Section 135A of the RPA, includes all or any of the following activities by any person or persons:
  • seizure of a polling station, affecting the conduct of elections;
  • taking possession of a polling station, allowing only his or their supporters to vote;
  • intimidating or threatening any elector and preventing him from going to the polling station;
  • seizure of a counting place affecting the counting of votes;
  • involvement of any person in government service in any of the above activities.
• Booth capturing is punishable for a term of not less than one year, which may extend to three years for lay people, and not less than three years, extending to five years for government servants.
• Under Section 58A (‘Adjournment of poll or countermanding of election on the ground of booth capturing’) in case booth capturing has taken place at a polling Station, the Presiding Officer of a polling station immediately closes the Control Unit of EVM and detaches the Ballot Unit(s) from the Control Unit under Rule 49X of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
• The EC, based on the material facts, may
  • declare the poll at that polling station to be void and direct a fresh poll on a new date; or
  • countermand the election in the constituency in case booth capturing has taken place in a large number of polling stations, or if it has affected the counting of votes.

Natural disasters, other disruptions to polling:

• The Presiding Officer of a polling station can adjourn the poll at a polling station under section 57(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, in case of:
  • a natural calamity like a flood, a severe storm;
  • non-receipt or loss or damage to essential polling materials like EVM, electoral roll etc;
  • interruption or obstruction due to any riot or, open violence;
  • non-arrival of the polling party due to obstruction or any other serious difficulty; or
  • non-commencement of the poll within two hours from the scheduled time due to malfunctioning of EVM, or any other reason.
• Contesting candidates or their agents are informed, and only electors who have not already voted before the poll was adjourned are permitted to vote.

Death of a candidate:

• As per Section 52 of RPA, amended in 1996, the poll shall be adjourned only in case of the death of a recognised political party’s candidate. 
• A recognised political party refers to either a recognised national party, or party recognised as a state party in the state concerned, for which the EC reserves a symbol under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order.
• The political party must make the nomination within seven days. 
• If the list of contesting candidates has already been published before the adjournment of the poll, a fresh list of contesting candidates is prepared and published, including the name of the candidate nominated in place of the deceased candidate.

About Representation of the People Act (RPA),1951:

Some Key Provisions of RPA,1951 are:

• It regulates the actual conduct of elections and by-elections.
• It provides administrative machinery for conducting elections.
• It deals with the registration of political parties.
• It specifies the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of the Houses.
• It provides provisions to curb corrupt practices and other offenses.
• It lays down the procedure for settling doubts and disputes arising out of elections.
• The Representation of People’s Act contains 13 parts (2 parts added as amendments).
• Each part is divided into different sections.

Section 58 in The Representation of the People Act, 1951 deals with fresh poll in the case of destruction, etc., of ballot boxes.

Section 58A in The Representation of the People Act, 1951 deals with adjournment of poll or countermanding of election on the ground of booth capturing