FCA / OFFENCES AND PENALTIES/

Penalties

Whoever contravenes or abets the contravention of any of the provisions of Section 2 of the Act shall be punishable with simple imprisonment for a period which may extend to fifteen days.

Penal Compensatory Afforestation

In some cases, state governments have accorded permission for diversion of forest land in anticipation of approval of the central government under this Act, and/or where work has been carried out in forest area without proper authority. While such anticipatory action is not permissible under the Act, under the guidelines issued by the MoEF, the central government may accord ex-post-facto approval only when exceptional circumstances justify condonation. In all such cases where the activity has been condoned, the MoEF insists upon penal compensatory afforestation.

The penal compensatory afforestation will be imposed over the area worked/used in violation. Where the entire area has been deforested due to anticipatory action of the state government, the penal compensatory afforestation will be imposed over the total lease area.

This guide is an additional aid to understanding the law. We have re-written some of the text in various and have not reproduced the exact text from the bare acts. While all efforts have been made to maintain the accuracy of this information, relevant official gazettes may be consulted for authenticity. The authors of this resource will not be responsible for any loss due to the information provided in this guide. Any discrepancy found may kindly be brought to our notice.