MUMBAI, June 8 -- In a significant ruling, the Bombay high court (HC) on Friday held that slum dwellers who have settled on protected forests - including mangrove land and buffer zones - cannot seek rehabilitation under the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971. A division bench of Justice Girish S Kulkarni and Justice Advait Sethna upheld the Maharashtra government's stance that Section 3Z-6 of the Slum Act explicitly excludes forest areas from its scope. As a result, encroachers on forest land are not entitled to the protections or benefits afforded to recognised slum dwellers. The court was hearing a petition filed by four residents of Laxminagar, a settlement located within mangrove forests and buffer zones in Charkop, Kandivali. The petitioners approached HC through advocate Ronita Bhattacharya Bector after revenue authorities demolished around 500 huts in the area - including theirs - in April 2021. P3...