A landmark judgment in defence of environment

The Supreme Court's judgment in the case of A.Chowgule and Co.Ltd. vs. Goa Foundation &Ors delivered on August 18th by Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Harjit Singh Bedi is truly landmark. The case involved the interpretation of the "forest land", the need for prior approval for the diversion of any forest land for some other purpose, and the effectiveness of reforestation/afforestation. On each of these issues, the Judges were unequivocal, and resisted the attempt of the appellants to circumvent the law.