Growing a commercial crop is not a forest right, Supreme Court says in the Megamalai case
6 November 2026
The Supreme Court has held that planned cultivation of a commercial crop inside a forest cannot be treated as a forest right under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. The case concerns encroachments in the Megamalai area of Tamil Nadu, part of the Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve. The State had argued that silk cotton grown there could count as minor forest produce. The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta took the prima facie view that Section 3(1)(c) protects the collection of minor forest produce, which must occur naturally, and not a planted cash crop. It asked the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to examine whether silk cotton can be minor forest produce. People who only cultivate there, while living outside the forest or staying only temporarily, were excluded from FRA claims. The Court set up a Special Committee under former Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai to scrutinise the claims.
In plain words
FRA Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 — The law that recognises the land and forest rights of forest-dwelling communities.
Minor forest produce — Non-timber produce of plant origin, such as bamboo, honey or tendu leaves, gathered from forests.
OTFD Other Traditional Forest Dwellers — Non-tribal forest dwellers who must show three generations of residence to claim rights under the FRA.