India’s Forest Rights Act, 2006: Stuck in a Maze of Bureaucratic Interpretations?

Using the varied legal forest categories and forest property regimes in Karnataka, India, the authors showcase the ingenuity with which the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 has been interpreted in various districts of the state. This article examines the reasons for these different interpretations among the implementing agencies and the outcomes of such interpretations on the community, targeted by the law to benefit. The range of administrative interpretations of the FRA has resulted, in most cases, in the dilution of the spirit of the law. There have been multiple factors that have influenced these administrative interpretations, including social formations, political power, histories of forest tenure, ideologies of conservation and inter-departmental mandates. The interplay of these multiple tensions, compels genuine claimants to struggle with accessing their rights under the Act and realising its full potential. The expression of administrative discretion often results in the creation of a cumbersome process of getting forest rights legally recognised, thus limiting the scope of this Act. Roshni Kutty is a PhD scholar with ATREE (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment), Bangalore and MAHE (Manipal Academy of Higher Education), Manipal; Sharachchandra Lele is a Distinguished Fellow in Environmental Policy & Governance; and Siddappa Setty is Associate Professor, Centre for Environment & Development, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Karnataka. Arpitha Kodiveri is a Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Law, European University Institute, Italy.