Mumbai, March 30 -- The Bombay High Court has quashed a Maharashtra government notification declaring over 56 hectares of land in Raigad district as "private forest", observing that authorities failed to properly assess evidence indicating the land had been afforested through human effort. The case relates to an agricultural land in Raigad, which the state proposed to classify as "private forest" in October 1997. A group of agriculturists challenged the move, claiming long-standing cultivation and arguing that its agricultural character excluded it from the ambit of the Maharashtra Private Forest (Acquisition) Act, 1975. They stated they have been cultivating the property for several decades and that the land is agricultural in nature. The petitioners contended that the thousands of trees on the land-including around 4,000 forest trees and 1,000 fruit-bearing trees-were planted by them through systematic afforestation efforts undertaken since the 1980s, not naturally grown. To support their claims, they submitted documentary evidence such as sapling purchase receipts, labour payment records, photographs, and revenue documents. An inspection report by the then deputy collector of the region in 1998 also noted the presence of trees and crops raised through artificial means. Despite this, the state government, in 1999, proceeded to notify the land as "private forest," relying on the opinion of the conservator of forest, who expressed doubts over the extent of artificial plantation. Setting aside the notification, a division bench of justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande, in its March 23 order, held that the mandatory procedure under the Act was not followed and that authorities had overlooked key evidence placed on record....