The Himachal Pradesh High Court has set aside the Centre’s 2022 notification declaring an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Col. Sherjung National Park. The court said mandatory procedures and guidelines were not properly followed while issuing the notification.
A Division Bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma passed the order on April 16, 2026. The order came while allowing a plea filed by Gram Panchayats Bhatanwali, Patalia and Behral.
The petitioners had challenged the January 13, 2022 notification passed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. They stated that several villages were included in the ESZ without following due process and without proper recommendations from competent authorities.
The court had said that the procedure laid down under the 2011 rules for declaring Eco-Sensitive Zones was not followed. These steps included conducting surveys, preparing land-use inventories and forming a panel involving local authorities, ecologists and revenue officials.
The bench noted that an previous process started in 2012 and a draft notification issued in 2015 had lapsed. It said the fresh proposal submitted later also failed to meet mandatory procedural needs. The court further observed that no stakeholder consultations or participation of public representatives took place after the earlier draft expired.
The court also pointed out inconsistencies in the inclusion and exclusion of villages in different draft notifications. It said there was no official record explaining why these changes were made.
Referring to legal precedents, including the Supreme Court judgment in the T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India case, the bench observed that statutory procedures must be strictly followed, especially when decisions directly affect local communities.
Highlighting the impact of ESZ declarations on residents, the court said due process must be followed to avoid hardship and ensure transparency in decision-making. “In the present case, the respondents have miserably failed to follow the prescribed procedure,” the court observed.
The High Court accordingly set aside the January 13, 2022 notification, granting relief to the affected gram panchayats and residents. All pending applications related to the matter were also disposed of.
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