Section 3: Power to reserve forests

The [State Government[ may constitute any forest-land or waste-land which is the property of Government, or over which the Government has proprietary rights, or to the whole or any part of the forest-produce of which the Government is entitled, a reserved forest in the manner hereinafter provided.

State amendments to this section

Uttar Pradesh

Substitution of new section for section 3 of Act XVI of 1927.—For section 3 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (hereinafter called the principal Act), the following shall be substituted namely—

"Powers to reserve forests.—The State Government may constitute any forest land or any other land (not being land for the time being comprised in any holding or in any village abadi) which is the property of Government or over which the Government has proprietary rights, or to the whole or any part of the forest produce of which the Government is entitled, a reserve forest in the manner hereinafter provided.

Explanation— The expression 'holding' shall have the meaning assigned to it in the U.P. Tenancy Act, 1939, and the expression 'village abadi' shall have the meaning assigned to it in the U.P. Village Abadi Act, 1947."

[Vide Uttar Pradesh Act, XXIII of 1965, s. 2]

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 3

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