Subhagiya and 8 Others Vs Union of India and 3 Others — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Subhagiya and 8 Others Vs Union of India and 3 Others — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Direction to the Collector, Sonbhadra to decide the petitioners' pending applications in accordance with law, following the procedure under Rule 8 of the Rules, 2008 and ensuring compliance with the Forest Act, 2006 and Regulations framed thereunder, within three months of production of certified copy; interim protection from coercive eviction until disposal of the application or for four months, whichever is earlier.

Issue for consideration

Whether any proceedings of dispossession can be undertaken against the petitioners, who claim to belong to scheduled tribes and are in possession of land falling in reserved forest area, otherwise than by following the procedure prescribed under Rule 8 of the Rules, 2008. +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; while examining the petitioners' applications, the Collector shall also ensure that the procedure prescribed under the Forest Act, 2006 and Regulations framed thereunder are fully complied with.

Ratio / Principle

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

Key takeaways

Interim protection: until disposal of the application or for a period of four months from the date of the order, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners to evict them from the land in question.ratio¶18

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Allahabad High Court (WRIT - C No. 9377 of 2026, decided March 19, 2026): Petitioners claiming to be forest dwellers/scheduled tribes in possession of land falling in reserved forest area sought protection from dispossession. Held that any proceedings against them shall be undertaken only by following the procedure prescribed under Rule 8 of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Rules, 2008, and the Collector shall ensure compliance with the Forest Act, 2006 and Regulations framed thereunder. Collector, Sonbhadra directed to pass appropriate order on the pending applications in accordance with law within a maximum of three months from production of certified copy. Until disposal of the application or for four months, no coercive action was to be taken to evict the petitioners.

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

WRIT - C No. - 9377 of 2026

Subhagiya And 8 Others

.....Petitioner(s)

	Versus
Union Of India And 3 Others	.....Responde
Counsel for Petitioner(s)	: Satish Kumar Mishra
Counsel for Respondent(s)	: A.S.G.I., C.S.C., Pradeep Singh

.....Respondent(s)

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 the procedure prescribed under the Forest Act, 2006 and Regulations

WRIC No. 9377 of 2026

2

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