Forest Act, 1927

This 1927 Act consolidates the law governing forests, the transit of forest produce, and duties charged on timber. It originally extended to Sindh, Punjab, and the North-West Frontier Province (except Hazara district), with provincial governments able to extend it further by notification (Section 1).

Chapter II covers "reserved forests" -- the strongest form of government forest protection. The Provincial Government can declare government-owned or government-controlled land a reserved forest (Section 3), and once notified, no new rights over that land can accrue (Section 5). A Forest Settlement-Officer then investigates any existing claims to rights -- such as rights of way, pasture, or to collect forest produce -- and can extinguish, admit, or commute (convert to a different form) those rights, with appeals available against the Officer's decisions (Sections 6-18). Once a forest is formally reserved, Section 23 says no new right can be acquired over it except as this Act allows, and Section 26 lets rules prohibit specific acts within it.

Chapter IV covers "protected forests" -- a lighter form of control where the government can reserve specific trees or classes of trees by notification, with penalties for breaching that notification or related rules (Sections 29-34). Chapter V lets the government take over management of privately-owned forests in certain circumstances, including at the owner's own request (Sections 35-38). Chapter VI allows the government to impose a duty on timber and other forest produce (Sections 39-40), while Chapter VII regulates the transit of timber and forest produce, including movement across customs frontiers (Sections 41-44).

Chapter IX sets out offences and procedure: forest officers can seize produce, tools, and vehicles used in a forest offence (Section 52), with confiscated property vesting in Government (Section 60), and gives forest officers power to arrest without a warrant in certain cases (Section 64) and to try offences summarily (Section 67) or compound (settle) them (Section 68). Chapter X applies the separate Cattle-Trespass Act, 1871 to forest land. Section 84 deems land needed for forest purposes to be land needed for a "public purpose" under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, making it easier for government to acquire such land. This is a very old law (1927) that has been amended many times across different provinces, and forestry is now largely a provincial subject following later constitutional changes -- readers should check current provincial forest legislation for what actually applies today.