India, April 22 -- A bench of the Allahabad High Court has passed an order quashing a 2021 order by the District Level Committee (DLC) of Lakhimpur in Uttar Pradesh that refused to finalise the forest rights claims of the Tharu community.

The bench, comprising of Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary, noted in its order that the DLC 'presumably' short-circuited the existing rights of the tribal group.

The court was hearing 107 petitioners from the Tharu community, a forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribe notified in June 1967 under the Constitution of India. These claims were submitted from 20 Gram Sabhas.

According to the provisions of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, tribals have rights to land title, collection and ...