FCA / OFFENCES AND PENALTIES/
Offences
Offences by government departments / Head of department
Where any offence under this Act has been committed by any department of government, the head of the department shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Section 3-B.1.b
The head of department shall not be liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
Section 3-B.2
Offences by authorities
Where any offence under this Act has been committed by any authority, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was directly in charge of and was responsible to the authority, for the conduct of the business of the authority as well as the authority, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence, and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Section 3-B.1.a
The authority shall not be liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
Section 3-B.2
Offences by other officers / persons
Where an offence punishable under the Act has been committed by an authority/government department, and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any other officer(s) or person(s), such officer(s) or person(s) shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
An officer or person shall not be liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
Section 3-B.2
Grant of permit without approval of central government
When the state government or any authority passes an order for permitting certain activities covered by this Act, without prior approval of the central government, such grant of permit is considered to be a violation under the Act.
Cases of illicit felling/encroachment/ illegal mining, etc. have to be dealt with under the provisions of other laws (Indian Forest Act, 1927, state Forest Acts, Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, etc).
In exceptional cases, such anticipatory action may be condoned by the central government, in which case penal compensatory afforestation is insisted upon. (See below)
Handbook of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003, Guidelines & Clarifications. Issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests, New Delhi, 2004 – Part C, Chapter 1, Para 1.9.iv
Commencement of activity on non-forest land without approval of central government
Some projects involve use of forest as well as non-forest land. State government or user agencies, in anticipation of central government approval for the diversion of forest land under this Act begin work on non-forest land. While the provisions of the Act may not have been technically violated by starting work on non-forest lands, expenditure incurred on works on non-forest lands may be proved to be infrutcuous, if diversion of forest land involved is not approved. Therefore, if a project involves forest as well as non-forest land, work should not be started on non-forest land till approval of the central government for release of forest land under the Act has been granted.
Handbook of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003, Guidelines & Clarifications. Issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests, New Delhi, 2004 – Part C, Chapter 4, Para 4.4
Click here to go to ‘Penalties awarded under the Act’