Judgment of the Supreme Court in the matter of In Re: Zudpi Jungle Lands.

A batch of applications involved a peculiar issue concerning the situation prevailing in the six districts of eastern Vidarbha region namely Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. The issue pertains to the status of the parcels of lands known as Zudpi jungle or Zudpi forest in the aforesaid districts of Maharashtra. “Zudpi” is a Marathi word which means bushes/shrubs. Zudpi lands means inferior type of unoccupied lands with bushy growth.

Judgment of the Supreme Court in the matter of In Re: T N Godavarman Thirumalpad Vs Union of India & Others.

The Supreme Court said that that the allotment of 11.89 hectare of reserve forest land in Survey No.21 Kondhwa Budruk in district Pune for agriculture purposes on August 28, 1998 and subsequent permission given for its sale in favour of Richie Rich Cooperative Housing Society (RRCHS) on October 30, 1999 was totally illegal.

Affidavit by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in OA No. 20 of 2025 (News item titled Assam forest's shrink by 83.92 sq km in just two years Report appearing in the Assamtribune.com dated 22.12.2024). The application was registered suo motu based on the news item titled "Assam's forests shrink by 83.92 sq km in just two years report" appearing in the Assamtribune.com dated December 22, 2024.

Affidavit by the state of Goa in the matter of news item titled "India lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000 global forest watch" appearing in the Indian Express dated April 13, 2024.

As per the State of Forests Report of 2023, the total forest cover in Goa is 2,265.72 sq km which amounts to 61.20 per cent of Goa's geographical area. "Data clearly indicates a consistent and steady increase in forest cover in Goa since 2001.

Report filed by the Forest and Wildlife Department, Kerala in the matter of Tribunal on its own motion Suo Motu based on the news item published in the Hindu, Chennai edition paper dated 30/07/2024 titled "Wayanad landslides live updates: 54 killed, over 100 feared missing in Kerala hill station; relief operations delayed" Vs Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change & Others. The report is dated March 28, 2025.

Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of In Re: T N Godavarman Thirumulpad Vs Union of India & Others dated 17/05/2023 regarding forest fires in the state of Uttarakhand.

The present application has been filed with the following prayers:

1. Permit the state government to maintain fire lines in forest areas in forests of Uttarakhand even if it ordains felling of green trees