Jag Prasad and 5 Others vs Union of India and 3 Others — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Jag Prasad and 5 Others vs Union of India and 3 Others — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Directions that any proceedings against the petitioners follow Rule 8 of the Rules, 2008 and that the Collector, Sonbhadra, while examining their pending applications, ensure compliance with the Forest Act, 2006 and Regulations framed thereunder; the Collector to pass appropriate orders on the pending applications in accordance with law within a maximum of three months from production of a certified copy of the order; and until such disposal or for four months, no coercive action to evict the petitioners from the land in question.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioners, claiming to be forest dwellers protected under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, could be dispossessed from land claimed as reserved forest except by following the procedure prescribed under Rule 8 of the 2008 Rules. +1 more

Court's answer

Any proceedings against the petitioners shall be undertaken only by following the procedure prescribed under Rule 8 of the Rules, 2008.

Ratio / Principle

While examining the petitioners' applications, the Collector shall ensure that the procedure prescribed under the Forest Act, 2006 and the Regulations framed thereunder is fully complied with.

Key takeaways

The Collector concerned shall pass appropriate order upon the pending application of the petitioners in accordance with law within a maximum period of three months from the date of production of certified copy of the order.ratio¶19
Until disposal of the application or for the period of four months, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners to evict them from the land in question.ratio¶20

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

WRIT - C No. 10291 of 2026, High Court of Judicature at Allahabad (Atul Sreedharan and Siddharth Nandan, JJ.), decided March 19, 2026 - Jag Prasad and 5 others v. Union of India and 3 others. Petitioners, claiming to be forest dwellers protected under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, with their applications pending before the Collector, Sonbhadra, sought protection from dispossession from land claimed by forest authorities as reserved forest. The Court held that any proceedings against the petitioners shall be undertaken only by following the procedure prescribed under Rule 8 of the Rules, 2008; directed the Collector, while examining their applications, to ensure compliance with the Forest Act, 2006 and Regulations framed thereunder; directed the Collector to pass appropriate orders on the pending applications in accordance with law within a maximum period of three months from production of a certified copy of the order; and ordered that until such disposal or for a period of four months, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners to evict them from the land in question.

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

WRIT - C No. - 10291 of 2026

Jag Prasad And 5 Others

.....Petitioner(s)

Versus

Union Of India And 3 Others

.....Respondent(s)

Counsel for Petitioner(s)	: Satish Kumar Mishra
Counsel for Respondent(s)	: A.S.G.I., C.S.C., Pradeep Singh

Court No. - 2

HON'BLE ATUL SREEDHARAN, J. HON'BLE SIDDHARTH NANDAN, J.

Heard Sri Satish Kumar Mishra, learned counsel for the petitioners and Sri Anshul Nigam, learned Standing Counsel for the State respondents.

Petitioners claim to be forest dwellers upon a piece of land which the respondent-forest authorities claimed to be its own land.

It is argued by learned counsel for the petitioners that petitioners are protected under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. It is submitted that no action of dispossession/ throwing them out of the land claiming to be reserved for forest area could have been taken place except by following the procedure prescribed under Rule 8 of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Rules, 2008.

Learned Standing Counsel submits that petitioners application are still pending consideration before the Collector Sonbhadra, who may be directed to dispose of the same in accordance with law.

Having heard learned counsel for the respective parties and having perused the records, in our considered view, if the petitioners belong to scheduled tribes and are having possession of some land under the impression that it is a tribal land though the land falls in reserved forest area, any proceedings shall be undertaken against them only by following the procedure prescribed under Rule 8 of Rules, 2008 and while Collector would examine the application of the petitioners, he will ensure also that

WRIC No. 10291 of 2026

2

the procedure prescribed under the Forest Act, 2006 and Regulations framed thereunder are fully complied with.

The Collector concerned shall be passing appropriate order upon the pending application of the petitioners in accordance with law within a maximum period of three months from the date of production of certified copy of this order.

Until such disposal of the application or for the period of four months from today, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners to evict them from the land in question.

(Siddharth Nandan,J.) (Atul Sreedharan,J.)

March 19, 2026

piyush

Digitally signed by :- PIYUSH KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad