Claimants must exhaust the statutory hierarchy of remedies under the Forest Rights Act before seeking judicial intervention.

The petitioner filed a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a writ of mandamus to direct the State authorities to allot physical possession of land measuring 5 Acre 15 Gunthas (Survey No. 230 paiki 6) at Village Navanagar, Dahod

The petitioner further sought a direction to the Forest Department not to disturb his possession of the said land, asserting rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

Whether the petitioner is entitled to a direct order for allotment of land and protection of possession without exhausting the statutory "inbuilt mechanism" provided under the Forest Rights Act and Rules

The court primarily applied the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Rules, 2007

It emphasized the procedural requirements under Rule 12, which governs the steps to be taken by the Forest Rights Committee and the Gram Sabha, and Rule 14, which provides the appellate remedy before the Sub-divisional Level Committee and the District Level Committee for claimants aggrieved by a resolution of the Gram Sabha

The court examined the statutory framework and agreed with the Assistant Government Pleader that the Act and Rules of 2007 provide a comprehensive "inbuilt mechanism" for the recognition of forest rights

The procedure requires a claimant to first submit a form to the Gram Sabha, which is then processed by the Forest Rights Committee under Rule 12

The court noted that the Gram Sabha must then pass a resolution approving or rejecting the rights, and the law provides clear appellate channels at the Sub-divisional and District levels for any person aggrieved by such resolutions

Therefore, the court determined that the petitioner must follow this prescribed administrative hierarchy rather than seeking direct judicial intervention for land allotment

The Court issued a direction to the Gram Sabha and the Forest Rights Committee to process and decide upon the petitioner’s application as per the statutory procedure within twelve months from the date of receipt

Rule was made absolute to this extent, with no order as to costs