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The Supreme Court, while taking serious note of the fact that fees to lawyers have been paid from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds, made it clear that no state government is authorized to use the funds for any activity other than afforestation.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Madan B. Lokur had perused a document prepared by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of Punjab which revealed that Rs 1,11,01,420 has been paid as legal expenses from the fund.
While directing the State of Punjab to reimburse the CAMPA funds within two weeks, the bench also comprising Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice Deepak Gupta said the theCAMPA funds are not meant for payment of fees to lawyers.
CAMPA Fund
The concept of CAMPA emanated from a Supreme Court judgment in T.N. GodavarmanThirumulpad vs. Union of India (2002), wherein it was ordered that a Compensatory Afforestation Fund be created in which all the monies received from the user agencies towards compensatory afforestation, additional compensatory afforestation, penal compensatory afforestation, catchment area treatment planor net present value of the diverted forest land shall be deposited.
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 was passed in the year 2016 and received the assent of the President of India on 3rdAugust 2016. The stated objective of the Act is to provide for the establishment of funds under the public accounts of India and the public accounts of each State and crediting thereto the monies received from the user agencies towards compensatory additional compensatory afforestation,afforestation, penal compensatory afforestation, net present value and all other amounts recovered from such agencies pertaining to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; constitution of an authority at the national level and at each of the State and Union territory Administration for administration of the funds and forutilising the monies so collected for undertaking protection of forests,artificial regeneration (plantations), assisted natural regeneration,Green India Programme, forest-related infrastructure development, wildlife protection and other related activities and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
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