Hansraj is a resident of Wagholi village in the buffer zone of Maharashtra’s Pench Tiger Reserve. He wished to have his rights over the land recognised under the Forest Rights Act (FRA).

FRA aims to correct historical injustices by granting titles of forestland and resource rights to forest-dwelling communities, if they prove occupancy/dependence on the forestland from before 2005.

Villagers of Wagholi initially failed to secure Community Forest Rights – which would have allowed them to collectively own and manage the forestland – due to not having at least two proofs of their occupancy.

Rule 13 of FRA lists the type of evidence that is accepted including elders’ written testimony, leases, census, voter or ration card, etc. However, the villagers were uneducated and unaware of the plethora of evidence they could submit.

In 2022, when the forest department began its survey, the officials on the ground allegedly told the villagers that they would issue encroachment fines against them that could be later used as proof of ownership of land.

Encroachment fines/offense reports serve as evidence of the forest department's proceedings against offenders (‘illegally occupying the forestland’) and are among the public documents permitted for FRA claims.

Hansraj wanted to file Individual Forest Rights, which give land use rights to a claimant. But unable to read the document, he overlooked the fine print — where the forest dept included a clause stating that by paying the fines, the encroachers would give up their land rights.

The realisation dawned on him much later when he approached the panchayat authorities. But Hansraj was not alone, at least 56 individuals across 16 villages were similarly deceived. They all belonged to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, or Other Backward Castes.

When they tried to file their Individual Forest Rights claims, the office of forest range officer sent letters to their respective Panchayats claiming that the villagers “voluntarily abandoned” their land and that their claims should not be accepted.

While the forest department has denied the allegation, Hansraj continues to struggle, with no way to file claims or access the land that once sustained his family of five.

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