33. Replacement of section 53A of the principal enactment

Section 53A of the principal enactment is hereby repealed and the following new section substituted therefor:—

53A. Where any person unlawfully clears or encroaches or is in unlawful or unauthorized possession of a portion of, any Conservation

Forest, Reserved Forest, Village Forest or any

Forest not included in those categories, as the case may be, such person shall be guilty of an offence and he shall in addition to the punishment for such offence be ejected from such land and the provisions of the State Lands

(Recovery of Possession) Act, No. 7 of 1979

shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to any such ejectment. Every reference to Divisional

Secretary in that Act shall be read and construed as a reference to the Divisional Forest Officer of the area in which such land is situated.”.