Writ petitions dismissed for non-prosecution after sufficient time was granted.

The petitioners filed five writ petitions under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking to quash forest-offence proceedings registered by the Range Forest Officer, Sakaleshpura, under the Karnataka Forest Act and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

When the petitions came up for orders, the matter was passed over in the morning at the petitioners’ counsel’s request; counsel sought time again in the afternoon.

The Court applied no substantive rule concerning the Karnataka Forest Act, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, or the petitioners’ requests for relief under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution and Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

It made a procedural determination that the petitions could be dismissed for non-prosecution when sufficient time had already been granted and the petitioners again sought time.

The Court noted that the petitions had already been passed over at the petitioners’ request and that further time was sought in the afternoon.

Finding that sufficient time had already been granted, it declined to grant another adjournment and dismissed the petitions for non-prosecution.

The Court did not consider the merits of the challenges to the forest proceedings.

No substantive determination was made on the legality of the impugned forest-offence proceedings.