Centre's plea not to extend CEC term rejected

New Delhi, Sep 7 (UNI) The Supreme Court today turned down the Centre's plea not to extend the term of Central Empowered Committee (CEC), appointed to check large scale felling of trees in forests and land grabbing by timber mafia in collusion with forest officials.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia directed that the CEC would continue to function till further orders and the government would continue to provide basic infrastructure to the committee.

Earlier Solicitor General G E Vahanvati said the continuance of CEC amounted to replacing the central government with the committee.

He also contended that he was not saying that CEC was unnecessary, but it should not be given power under sec 3(iii) of the Forest Conservation Act, to issue directions to the government and its officers in the forest matter.

''The long and short of your application is that they have become nuisance, so please take them off,'' the court remarked adding that it also wanted to know from the centre if there was any single concrete incident in which CEC has overstepped its brief.

The apex court also said that the government was imagining and anticipating the problem. It however, made it clear that if government faces any problem it was free to approach the Court and the problem would be immmediately considered.

The court also told Mr Vahanvati to discuss the problem with amicus senior council Harish Salve for proper coordination.

UNI