# T.N. GODAVARAMAN THIRUMULPAD ' v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS

- **Citation:** [2008] 8 S.C.R. 152
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 2008-05-09
- **Case number:** Writ Petition @ No. 202 of 1955
- **Bench:** K.G. Balakrishnan, Dr. Arijit Pasayat, S.H. Kapadia
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/t-n-godavaraman-thirumulpad-v-union-of-india-and-ors-24697
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

c
s.3(3) - ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT, 1986:
Central Empowered Committee - Exemption sought to
use forest areas in developmental activities for non-forest purposes - Payment of Net Present Value - Order of Supreme
D Court dated 28. 3. 2008 - Corrections of typographical errors at
pages 10 and 11 - HELD: Pages 10 and 11 of the order shall
stand substituted as shown in the instant order - Recommendations for exemption are accordingly accepted - If, in any
case, exemption is required by nature of the peculiar circumE stances of the case, the same would be decided as and when
necessary on a case to case basis.
T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India and
Ors. [2008] 6 SCR 321 - refused to
I.A. Nos. 826 IN 566 WITH 955 IN 566, 958, 985, 1001-
)
F
1001A, 1013-14, 1016-1018, 1019, 1046, 1047, 1135-1136,
1164, 1180-1181, 1182-1183, 1196, 1208-1209, 1222-1223,
1224-1225, 1229, 1233 IN 1135-1136, 1248-1249, 1253, 13011302, 1303-1304, 1312, 1313, 1314, 1318, 1319IN1137, 1325,
1364, 1365-1366, 1370-1370A,1371, 1384, 1385-1386, 1387,
G 1434, 1435-1437, 1438, 1441 WITH 1634, 1475-1476, 1513,
1573, 1639 IN 1135-1136 IN IA 566, 1664, 1665, 1671, 1676,
1707, 1721, 1779 IN 1164 IN 566, 1785-1786 IN I.A. NO. 1441,
~
1980-1981, 1993, 2013, 2074-2076, 2077-2078 IN 1441 &
2098 IN 1233 IN 1135-1136, 2145-2146, 2147-2148, 2149H
152
T.N. GODAVARAMAN THIRUMULPAD v.
153
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
2150 & 2153-2154 IN I.A. 566 IN W.P.(C) NO. 20211995
A
G.E. Vahanvati, S.G.,A. Sharan,ASG, Harsh, N. Salve, Uday U.
Lalit, T.S. Doabia, Ranjit Kumar, K.K. Venugopal, Mukul Rohtagi,
P.S. Patwalia, Altaf Ahmed, V.A. Mehta, S.B. Upadhyay, Ranjit
Kumar, Dr, Rajiv Dhavan, Rajesh (for K. Rajeev), A.V. Savant,
Anil Diwan, Siddhartha Chowdhary, A.D.N. Rao, P.K. Manohar,
8
Shakun Sharma, Rukhmini Bobde, Harris Beeran, Rekha
Pandey, Alka Sharma, D.D. Kamat, A.Mariarputham, P.
Parmeswaran, Ambika Das, Sunil Roy (for D.S. Mahra), Asha
G. Nair (for D.S. Mahra), Anip Sachthey, Mohit Paul, Sanjay R.
Hegde, A. Rohen Singh. Amit Kr. Chawla, Manohar Lal Sharma, C
Rajgopal N. (for Debasis Misra), Arvind Kr. Sharma, Saurabh
Mishra, S.W.A. Qadri, B.K. Prasad, Anuradha Dutta,
Vijayalakshmi Menon, Naveen Kr. Singh, Shashwat Gupta, (for
Aruneshwar Gupta, AAG), Sunil Dogra, S.U.K. Sagar, Bina
Madhavan (for Mis. Lawyers Knit & Co.), Ajay Sharma, Ms D
Tasleem Ahmadi, R.S. Jena, Ms. Nidhi Minocha, Adesh Sharma,
Rajesh Srivastava, Anurag Sharma, Ms. Ratna Kaul, Prashant
Kumar (for Mis. APJ Chambers), Manjit Singh, T.V. George,
Dhruv Mehta, Harshvardhan Jha, Yashraj S. Deora, Gulshan
Sharma (for Mis. K.L. Mehta & Co.) Satinder S. Gulati,
E
Kamaldeep Gulati, Amanpreet Singh Rahi, M.L.Lahoty, Vikas
Mahajan, D.B. Vohra, Aruna Gupta, Sumita Hazarika, S.C. Patel,
P. Parmeswaran, J.T. Gilda, Manish Pitale (for C.S. Ashri).
Neeraj Malhotra. Nikhil Nayyar, Ankit Singhal, T.V.S.
Raghavendra Sreyas, Anisha Upadhyay, Shiv Mangal Sharma
F
(for sharmila Upadhyay), Rajesh R. Dubey, Santosh Mishra,
Anisha Upadhyay, C.P. Sharma, Geeta Sharma, Santosh Singh,
B.S. Banthia, Vikas Upadhyay, Vivek Gupta, Shaket Agarwal,
Ashish Dholakia, Adarsh Priyadarshini, S. Sukumaran, Rajesh
(for K. Rajeev), Aruna Gupta, Sumita Hazarika, Amit Pudussery,
G
G. Prakash, Umapathy. N. M. Popli, A. Subhashini, Anil Kr. Jha,
~
Rani Chhabra (for Mis. Khaitan & Co.) A. Rohen Singh, Amit Kr.
Chawla, KH. Nobin Singh, Momta Oinam (for Mis. Corporate I
aw Group), K.N. Madhusoodhanan, R. Sathish, Anil Shtivastav,
Ritu Raj, Gopal Singh, Harish Kumar Puri, Anil Katiyar, Abhiji! P.
H
154
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2008) 8 S.C.R.
A
Medh, Anil Nag. Naresh Kumar. A.K. Sinha, Chirag, M. Shroff
Ajay Pal, Raj Kumar Mehta. Mragank. M. Nalini Pal, Vishnu B.
Saharya (for Mis. Saharya & Co.) B.P. Singh, Sanjeev Kumar,
Sarla Chandra, Mukesh K. Giri Ajit Kr. Sinha Ambhoj Kr. Sinha,
Himinder Lal, Anis Suhrawady, V.B. Joshi, Kailash Pandey,
B Shuchi Singh, K.V. Viswanathan, B. Raghunath, Vijay Kumar,
Jayant Mohan, Rahul Pratap (for Dr. Kailash Chand), Vij

## Text

152
[2008] 8 S.C.R. 152
A
T.N. GODAVARAMAN THIRUMULPAD
'
V.
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
I.As. No. 826 etc.
IN
B
(Writ Petition @ No. 202 of 1955)
MAY 9, 2008
<
[K.G. BALAKRISHNAN, CJI, DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND
S.H. KAPADIA, JJ]
c
s.3(3) - ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT, 1986:
Central Empowered Committee - Exemption sought to
use forest areas in developmental activities for non-forest purposes - Payment of Net Present Value - Order of Supreme
D Court dated 28. 3. 2008 - Corrections of typographical errors at
pages 10 and 11 - HELD: Pages 10 and 11 of the order shall
stand substituted as shown in the instant order - Recommendations for exemption are accordingly accepted - If, in any
case, exemption is required by nature of the peculiar circumE stances of the case, the same would be decided as and when
necessary on a case to case basis.
T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India and
Ors. [2008] 6 SCR 321 - refused to
I.A. Nos. 826 IN 566 WITH 955 IN 566, 958, 985, 1001-
)
F
1001A, 1013-14, 1016-1018, 1019, 1046, 1047, 1135-1136,
1164, 1180-1181, 1182-1183, 1196, 1208-1209, 1222-1223,
1224-1225, 1229, 1233 IN 1135-1136, 1248-1249, 1253, 13011302, 1303-1304, 1312, 1313, 1314, 1318, 1319IN1137, 1325,
1364, 1365-1366, 1370-1370A,1371, 1384, 1385-1386, 1387,
G 1434, 1435-1437, 1438, 1441 WITH 1634, 1475-1476, 1513,
1573, 1639 IN 1135-1136 IN IA 566, 1664, 1665, 1671, 1676,
1707, 1721, 1779 IN 1164 IN 566, 1785-1786 IN I.A. NO. 1441,
~
1980-1981, 1993, 2013, 2074-2076, 2077-2078 IN 1441 &
2098 IN 1233 IN 1135-1136, 2145-2146, 2147-2148, 2149H
152
T.N. GODAVARAMAN THIRUMULPAD v.
153
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
2150 & 2153-2154 IN I.A. 566 IN W.P.(C) NO. 20211995
A
G.E. Vahanvati, S.G.,A. Sharan,ASG, Harsh, N. Salve, Uday U.
Lalit, T.S. Doabia, Ranjit Kumar, K.K. Venugopal, Mukul Rohtagi,
P.S. Patwalia, Altaf Ahmed, V.A. Mehta, S.B. Upadhyay, Ranjit
Kumar, Dr, Rajiv Dhavan, Rajesh (for K. Rajeev), A.V. Savant,
Anil Diwan, Siddhartha Chowdhary, A.D.N. Rao, P.K. Manohar,
8
Shakun Sharma, Rukhmini Bobde, Harris Beeran, Rekha
Pandey, Alka Sharma, D.D. Kamat, A.Mariarputham, P.
Parmeswaran, Ambika Das, Sunil Roy (for D.S. Mahra), Asha
G. Nair (for D.S. Mahra), Anip Sachthey, Mohit Paul, Sanjay R.
Hegde, A. Rohen Singh. Amit Kr. Chawla, Manohar Lal Sharma, C
Rajgopal N. (for Debasis Misra), Arvind Kr. Sharma, Saurabh
Mishra, S.W.A. Qadri, B.K. Prasad, Anuradha Dutta,
Vijayalakshmi Menon, Naveen Kr. Singh, Shashwat Gupta, (for
Aruneshwar Gupta, AAG), Sunil Dogra, S.U.K. Sagar, Bina
Madhavan (for Mis. Lawyers Knit & Co.), Ajay Sharma, Ms D
Tasleem Ahmadi, R.S. Jena, Ms. Nidhi Minocha, Adesh Sharma,
Rajesh Srivastava, Anurag Sharma, Ms. Ratna Kaul, Prashant
Kumar (for Mis. APJ Chambers), Manjit Singh, T.V. George,
Dhruv Mehta, Harshvardhan Jha, Yashraj S. Deora, Gulshan
Sharma (for Mis. K.L. Mehta & Co.) Satinder S. Gulati,
E
Kamaldeep Gulati, Amanpreet Singh Rahi, M.L.Lahoty, Vikas
Mahajan, D.B. Vohra, Aruna Gupta, Sumita Hazarika, S.C. Patel,
P. Parmeswaran, J.T. Gilda, Manish Pitale (for C.S. Ashri).
Neeraj Malhotra. Nikhil Nayyar, Ankit Singhal, T.V.S.
Raghavendra Sreyas, Anisha Upadhyay, Shiv Mangal Sharma
F
(for sharmila Upadhyay), Rajesh R. Dubey, Santosh Mishra,
Anisha Upadhyay, C.P. Sharma, Geeta Sharma, Santosh Singh,
B.S. Banthia, Vikas Upadhyay, Vivek Gupta, Shaket Agarwal,
Ashish Dholakia, Adarsh Priyadarshini, S. Sukumaran, Rajesh
(for K. Rajeev), Aruna Gupta, Sumita Hazarika, Amit Pudussery,
G
G. Prakash, Umapathy. N. M. Popli, A. Subhashini, Anil Kr. Jha,
~
Rani Chhabra (for Mis. Khaitan & Co.) A. Rohen Singh, Amit Kr.
Chawla, KH. Nobin Singh, Momta Oinam (for Mis. Corporate I
aw Group), K.N. Madhusoodhanan, R. Sathish, Anil Shtivastav,
Ritu Raj, Gopal Singh, Harish Kumar Puri, Anil Katiyar, Abhiji! P.
H
154
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2008) 8 S.C.R.
A
Medh, Anil Nag. Naresh Kumar. A.K. Sinha, Chirag, M. Shroff
Ajay Pal, Raj Kumar Mehta. Mragank. M. Nalini Pal, Vishnu B.
Saharya (for Mis. Saharya & Co.) B.P. Singh, Sanjeev Kumar,
Sarla Chandra, Mukesh K. Giri Ajit Kr. Sinha Ambhoj Kr. Sinha,
Himinder Lal, Anis Suhrawady, V.B. Joshi, Kailash Pandey,
B Shuchi Singh, K.V. Viswanathan, B. Raghunath, Vijay Kumar,
Jayant Mohan, Rahul Pratap (for Dr. Kailash Chand), Vijay
Panjwani, Pallav Sisodia, R.A. Malandar, S.C. Patel, Subhashish
Bhowmick, Tajas Patel, Akhil Sibal, Krishna, R.N. Karanjawala,
Manik Karanjawala, Nandini Gore, Debmalya Banerjee, Sonia
c Nigam, Hemantika Wahi, Pinky, Jesal for the Appearing parties.
The Order of the Court was delivered by
On 281h March, 2008, we had passed an order regarding
payment of Net Present Value (NPV) accepting the recommenD dations made by CEC which were more or less acceptable to
MC!>EF. In that order we had also indicated that exemptions
from payment of NPV have to be granted in respect of certain
categories. However, it is brought to our notice that certain typographical mistakes had crept in that order as to categories
E to which such exemptions are to be granted. Therefore, we direct that as regards exemptions from payment of NPV, the last
F
G
H
part of that order reading "We are of the view ............... (x)
construction of the transmission lines" on pages 10 to 11 shall
st~nd substituted with the following :-
Category
CEC
i)
Schools
Full exemption upto 1 ha.
ii)
Hospitals
of forest land provided :
iii) Children's play ground
(a)
no felling of trees is
of non commercial nature
involved;
iv) Community centres in
(b)
alternate forest land
rural areas
is not available;
v)
Over-head tanks
(c)
the project is of nonvi) Village tanks,
commercial nature
T.N. GODAVARAMAN THIRUMULPAD v.
155
)
UNION OF INDIAAND ORS.
vii) Laying of underground
and is part of the Plan/
A
drinking water pipeline
Non-Plan Scheme of
upto 4 diameter and
Government; and
viii) Electricity distribution (d)
the area is outside
line upto 22 KV in rural
National Park/Saneareas.
tuary
B
Relocation of villages from Full Exemption
the National Parks/Sanctuary
to alternate forest land
c
Collection of boulders/silts Full exemption provided :
from the river belts in the for- (a)
area is outside Na-
'
est area
tional Park/Sanctuary;
(b)
no mining lease is
D
approved/signed in
respect of this area;
(c)
the works including
the sale of boulders/
silt are carried out
departmentally or
E
through Government
undertaking
or
through the Economic Development
Committee or Joint
F
Forest Management Committee;
(d)
the activity is neeessary for conservation and protecG
tior'l of forests; and
(e)
the sale proceeds are
used for protection/
conservation of forests
H
156
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2008] 8 S. C.R.
A
Laying of underground optiFull exemption provided :
cal fibre cable
(a)
no felling of trees is
involved; and
(b)
areas falls outside
B
National Park/Sanetuary
Pre-1980 regularisation of Full exemption provided
encroachments and conver- these are strictly in accorc
sion of forest villages into dance with MoEF's Guiderevenue villages
lines dated 18.9.1990.
Underground mining
50% of the NPV of the entire area
D
The above recommendations for exemptions are accepted. If, in any case, exemption is required by nature of the
, peculiar circumstances of the case, the same would be decided
as and when necessary on a case to case basis.
R.P.
I.A. disposed of.
(