Maharashtra farmer gets Rs 50L payout for ‘red sandalwood’ tree; railways claims it’s bijasal, seeks refund

NAGPUR: A compensation battle over a tree took a dramatic turn after the Railways moved the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court last week, seeking a refund of Rs50 lakh already withdrawn by a Yavatmal farmer.

The case centres around a tree that was initially identified as rare and precious red sandalwood, but has now been scientifically confirmed as an ordinary bijasal (pterocarpus marsupium) worth less than Rs10,000.The dispute dates to 2018 when Keshav Tukaram Shinde, a farmer from Kharsi village in Yavatmal district, challenged the acquisition of his land for the Wardha-Yavatmal-Pusad-Nanded railway line. Among properties on his land stood a century-old tree, which Shinde claimed was red sandalwood - a species that commands high market value.

Based on forest records mentioning sandalwood, the court in April this year ordered Railways to pay Rs1 crore compensation, of which Rs50 lakh was disbursed to the farmer's family as interim relief.However, the Yavatmal forest division recently referred the matter to the Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bengaluru, for precise verification. Their report revealed the tree was not red sandalwood but Bijasal, a common deciduous species also known as Malabar kino.

The valuation committee assessed the tree's price at ₹10,981, further reducing it to ₹9,768 after deducting felling charges of ₹1,213."The high court order was passed under the assumption the tree was sandalwood. Now that it has been confirmed as bijasal, the Railways is entitled to recover the excess payment along with the accrued interest," Railways counsel Neerja Chaubey told TOI. The remaining ₹50 lakh, deposited in the court registry, has also been claimed back.The Shinde family approached the court after being denied compensation for the tree and underground pipelines on their land, even though the amount for the land itself was awarded in an order dated February 8, 2018. During earlier proceedings, the govt submitted that the valuation of the red sandalwood tree could only be completed by cutting, weighing, and then pricing the tree per kilogram - a process that would require additional time.