The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Uttarakhand government why it was “sitting like mute spectators” amid alleged large-scale grabbing of forest land, reported Live Law.

Initiating a suo motu case, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the chief secretary of Uttarakhand and the principal conservation secretary to set up a fact-finding committee, according to Bar and Bench.

The committee will have to submit a report after assessing the situation. This could enable the court to assess the scale of the alleged encroachment of forest land and how state authorities have responded.

The court also ordered that all construction on forest land be stopped immediately and “the vacant land, other than residential houses, shall be taken into possession by the Forest Department and concerned collector”.

The matter pertained to 2,866 acres of government forest land, part of which was leased out to an organisation named Pashu Lok Seva Samiti.

The organisation told the court that it had allotted parcels of the land to its members. After the organisation came under liquidation, it surrendered 594 acres of land to the Forest Department on 23.10.1984.

Some persons claimed they had taken possession of the land in 2001.

“The facts of this case prima facie show as to how thousands of acres of forest land have been systematically grabbed by private individuals,” Live Law quoted the bench as saying.

It posted the matter for hearing next on January 5.

In September, the Supreme Court observed that “illegal” felling of trees appears to be rampant in the Himalayan region.

While development is necessary, it should not come at the “cost of the environment and lives”, the court had said.