[30th
January 2024] In exercise of the powers
conferred by sub-section (1) of section 8 of the Maharashtra Payment of
Compensation for Loss, Injury or Damage Caused by Wild Animals Act, 2023 (Mah.
XXXVII of 2023), the Government of Maharashtra hereby makes the following rules,
namely :- These rules may be called
the Maharashtra Payment of Compensation for Loss, Injury or Damage Caused by
Wild Animals Rules, 2023. (1)
In these rules, unless the context otherwise
requires,- (a)
"Act" means the Maharashtra Payment
of Compensation for Loss, Injury or Damage Caused by Wild Animals Act, 2023
(Mah. XXXVII of 2023); (b)
"Family" means wife, husband,
children, mother or father of a victim; (c)
"Form" means the Form appended to
these rules. (2)
Words and expressions used but not defined in
these rules shall have the same meanings as are respectively assigned to them
under the Act. In addition to types of
injuries or damages caused due to attack of wild animal provided in sub-section
(2) of section 3 of the Act, the State Government shall also pay compensation
under the said Act for minor injury to humans caused due to attack of wild
animal. The Assistant Conservator of
Forest having jurisdiction over the area where incident of attack of wild
animal has occurred shall be the Sanctioning Authority for the purposes of the
this Act. (1)
In case of loss of human life.- (a)
An intimation about the loss of human life
due to attack of wild animal shall be given immediately in writing by any
person to the nearest Forest Guard. After receipt of such intimation, the
Forest Guard shall confirm whether such incident has occurred and gather
information of the incident and report the facts to the concerned Forester and
Range Forest Officer immediately. (b)
In such cases an application for compensation
payable under the Act shall be made by the legal heirs of the deceased to the
concerned Range Forest Officer in Form I within forty-eight hours of such
incident. (c)
The Range Forest Officer, on receipt of such
application under clause (b) shall visit the spot of incident and conduct
necessary inquiry within three days from the date of receipt of such
application. The Range Forest Officer shall make a Panchnama after such
inquiry. (d)
In such cases, the post mortem shall be
carried out by the Medical Officer. The Medical Officer shall after the post
mortem, forward a post mortem report to the concerned officer. (2)
In case of permanent disability, major or
minor injury to humans.- (a)
In case of permanent disability, major or
minor injury to humans caused due to attack of wild animal, an application for
the compensation payable under the Act shall be made in Form I, by the injured
person himself or any other person from his family to the Range Forest Officer
having jurisdiction over the area where such attack has occurred, within
forty-eight hours of such incident. The applicant shall also submit along with
such application a medical certificate of examination of the victim conducted
by the Medical Officer. (b)
The Range Forest Officer shall, on receipt of
an application under clause (a), direct the Forester to visit the spot and
conduct necessary inquiry within three days from the date of receipt of such
application. The Forester shall draw a Panchnama after such inquiry. The
Forester shall submit his report along with a Panchnama to the Range Forest
Officer. (3)
The Range Forest Officer shall, after receipt
of the report of the Forester, forward the application along with his specific
recommendation to the Assistant Conservator of Forest within twenty days of the
receipt of application complete in all respects. (4)
The injured or deceased person shall not be
eligible for receipt of any compensation if the incident of attack by wild
animal has taken place while the concerned person is contravening any of the
provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 (53 of 1972) or any rules
made thereunder. (1)
In case the deceased is an adult, the payment
of compensation shall be as follows, namely :- (a)
If the spouse of the deceased is alive, the spouse
and children shall be given equal share. (b)
If the spouse is not alive,- (i)
the compensation shall be equally divided
amongst all the surviving children if all are major; (ii)
if the child is minor, then his share of the
amount of compensation shall be deposited into an account opened in the joint
name of such minor and the concerned Deputy Collector. Such deposited amount of
compensation shall be paid to such minor child after he attains the age of
eighteen years. (c)
If the spouse and children of the deceased
are not alive, the amount of compensation shall be paid to the parents of the
deceased. (2)
In case the deceased is a minor, the payment
of compensation shall be as follows, namely :- (a)
the amount of compensation shall be paid to
the parents of the deceased. (b)
if the parents are not alive, the siblings of
the deceased shall be given equal amount. If the siblings are minor,
then the provisions of sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub-rule (1) shall,
mutatis mutandis apply. (3)
If any dispute arises in respect of the legal
heirs of the deceased, the amount of compensation shall be paid only after
submitting the succession certificate. (4)
The forty per cent. of the compensation
amount shall be deposited in the account of the person to whom it is awarded by
the Sanctioning Authority and sixty per cent. of the compensation amount shall
be deposited in monthly interest bearing fixed deposit account of such person
for ten years. After ten years on maturity of fixed deposit, the amount in such
account shall be paid to such person. (5)
The amount in the fixed deposit may be
withdrawn with prior approval of the Sanctioning Authority for critical
illness, educational purposes and marriage of member of the family of the
victim. (1)
In case of loss of cattle life or injury to
cattle, the owner of the cattle shall make an application within forty-eight
hours in Form II for claiming compensation to the concerned Range Forest
Officer having jurisdiction over the area. (2)
The owner of the cattle shall take care that
he or any person shall not move the carcass of the cattle from the spot of the
incident till inspection is carried out by Forester, otherwise he shall not be
eligible for compensation. (3)
The Range Forest Officer shall, on receipt of
an application under clause (a), direct the concerned Forester to visit the
spot and conduct necessary inquiry within three days from the date of receipt
of such application. The Forester shall draw a Panchnama after such inquiry. (4)
The Forester shall get the deceased or
injured cattle examined by the Government Veterinary Officer. The Government
Veterinary Officer shall, after examination of the deceased or injured cattle,
give Medical Certificate to the Forester after recording specific observations
whether death or injury of cattle is caused by wild animal or not. The Forester
shall submit his report along with a Panchnama and such Medical Certificate to
the Range Forest Officer. (5)
The Range Forest Officer shall, after receipt
of report of the Forester, assess the market value of the cattle. The Range
Forest Officer shall forward the application and all necessary documents along
with his specific recommendations to the Assistant Conservator of Forests
within twenty days of receipt of application complete in all respects. (6)
If the cattle has entered any area of the
National Park or Sanctuary where entry of such cattle is prohibited and is
killed by wild animal in such area, then the applicant shall not be eligible
for compensation under the Act. (7)
If any wild animal dies due to poisoning
within six days from the date of incident in the radius of ten kilometers from
the place of incident, then the cattle owner of such animal shall not be
eligible for receipt of the compensation under the Act. (1)
In case of damage to the crops or fruit
plants, the owner shall make an application within seventy-two hours in Form
III for compensation payable under the Act to the concerned Range Forest
Officer having jurisdiction over the area where such attack has occurred. (2)
In case of damage to crops or fruit plants,
the Committee comprising of Forest Guard, Agriculture Assistant and Talathi of
the area shall jointly inspect the farm and assess the quantum of damage due to
wild animal and prepare a report and submit it to the Range Forest Officer
within ten days from the date of receipt of an application. (3)
In case of damage to the property by wild
elephant, the owner shall make an application within seventy-two hours in Form
III for compensation payable under the Act to the concerned Range Forest
Officer having jurisdiction over the area where such attack has occurred. (4)
In case of damage to property by wild
elephant, the Committee comprising of the Range Forest Officer, Junior Engineer
of Public Works Department and Talathi or Gramsevak of that area shall inspect
and assess the damage and draw a Panchnama within ten days from the date of
receipt of an application. In such incident, the applicant shall not remove
anything or modify the scene of incident or carry out any work of repair till
the Panchnama and assessment of damage is completed by the Committee. (5)
The Range Forest Officer shall, after receipt
of report of the Committee referred in subrules (3) and (4), as the case may
be, immediately forward the application and report of such Committee along with
his specific recommendations to the Assistant Conservator of Forest. (6)
The compensation shall not be payable in
respect of the following cases, namely :- (a)
if the cultivation land is an un-regularized
encroachment on forest land; (b)
if the owner of the land or cultivator has
committed any offence under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or the
Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (53 of 1972) within last three years from the
date of incident. If the payment of
compensation is delayed beyond thirty days from the date of receipt of
application complete in all respects by the Range Forest Officer, interest at
the rate of six per cent. per annum of amount of compensation shall be payable
along with amount of compensation. FORM
I (See
rule 5) APPLICATION
FOR CLAIMING COMPENSATION IN CASE OF LOSS OF HUMAN LIFE, PERMANENT DISABILITY,
MAJOR OR MINOR INJURY TO HUMANS To The Range Forest Officer,
------------------- (1)
Full name of the applicant : (2)
Address : (3)
Relationship with the victim : (4)
Mobile No. : (5)
Aadhaar No.* : (6)
Gender : (7)
Age : (8)
Marital Status* : (9)
Name(s) of legal heirs in case of loss of
human life: (10)
Details of the Bank Account* : (a)
Account Holders Name : (b)
Account Number : (c)
Name of the Bank : (d)
IFSC Code : (11)
Type of Injury (Strike out whatever not
applicable) (a)
Loss of human life : (b)
Permanent disability to humans: (c)
Major injury to humans: (d)
Minor injury to humans: (12)
Details of the Incident : (a)
Location of the incident : (i)
Village : (ii)
Taluka : (iii)
District : (b)
Date and time of the incident : (c)
Wild animal due to which death or injury is
caused : (d)
Any other relevant information : Signature of Applicant. *Relevant documents need to
be submitted. FORM
II [See
rule 7(1)] APPLICATION
FOR CLAIMING COMPENSATION IN CASE OF LOSS OF CATTLE LIFE OR INJURY TO CATTLE To The Range Forest Officer, --------------- (1)
Full name of the applicant : (2)
Address : (3)
Mobile No. : (4)
Aadhaar No.* : (5)
Gender : (6)
Age : (7)
Details of the Bank Account* : (a)
Account Holders Name : (b)
Account Number : (c)
Name of the Bank : (d)
IFSC Code : (8)
Type of Loss / Injury (Strike out whatever not
applicable) (a)
Loss of cattle life : (b)
Injury to cattle : (9)
Details of the Incident : (a)
Location of the incident : (i)
Village : (ii)
Taluka : (iii)
District : (b)
Date and time of the incident : (c)
Type and number of cattle : (d)
Wild animal due to which injury is caused : (e)
Any other relevant information : Signature of Applicant. *Relevant documents need to
be submitted. FORM
III (See
rule 8) APPLICATION
FOR CLAIMING COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DAMAGE TO CROPS AND FRUIT PLANTS OR
PROPERTY BY WILD ELEPHANTS To The Range Forest Officer,
------------- (1)
Full name of the applicant : (2)
Address : (3)
Mobile No. : (4)
Aadhaar No.* : (5)
Gender : (6)
Age : (7)
Details of the Bank Account* : (a)
Account Holders Name : (b)
Account Number : (c)
Name of the Bank : (d)
IFSC Code : (8)
Type of Damage (Strike out whatever not
applicable) (a)
damage to crops, fruit plants or (b)
damage to property due to wild elephant (9)
Details of the Incident : (a)
Land details* : (i)
Village : (ii)
Taluka : (iii)
District : (b)
Date of the incident : (c)
Type of crop / fruit plants and age of fruit
plants : or (d)
Details of property: (e)
Any other relevant information : Signature of Applicant. *Relevant documents need to
be submitted.Maharashtra
Payment Of Compensation For Loss, Injury Or Damage Caused By Wild Animals
Rules, 2023