was on 28.01.2022 and the approval of the proposal by the Nodal Officer was on 31.01.2022. Thereafter, the Nodal Officer forwarded the said Application to the State Government for recommendation on the same date i.e. 31.01.2022. Clearly till this stage of Approval, the Application was being processed under the Forest Conservation Rules, 2003 and not under the Forest Conservation Rules, 2022. During the pendency of the proposal with the State Government, the Forest Conservation Rules of 2022 were enacted about five months later i.e. on 28.06.2022. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, issued a clarification on 18.07.2022, with respect to the applicability of the Forest Conservation Rules, 2022 specifically for pending proposals. The said Letter clarified that the provisions of Forest Conservation Rules, 2003, shall apply to proposals submitted online through the Parivesh portal and which have been accepted by the Nodal Officer before 28.06.2022. Clearly, in this case, the Nodal Officer had accepted the proposal of the Answering Respondent on 31.01.2022, i.e. before 28.06.2022, as stated by the Forest Department also in their Affidavit dated 11.12.2025. Hence, the proposal for Stage I Forest Clearance was submitted and processed under the Forest Conservation Rules, 2003. Thus, in view of the said Letter, the subsequent recommendation of the State Government dated 16.05.2023 and the MoEF&CC recommendation dated 18.07.2023, is under the Forest Conservation Rules, 2003.
