No court inferior to that of a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class shall try any offence under this Act.
20. Bar of jurisdiction of civil Gonna—No civil court shall have jurisdiction to settle, dec1de or deal with any question or to determine any matter which is by or under this Act required to be settled, decided or dealt With or to be determined by any oflicer or authority or the Government.
21. Indemnity—No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Government or any officer or authority or any other person for anything which is in good faith done or purporting to have been done under this Act or any rule or order made thereunder.
22. Restriction regarding cutting, etc, of trees in future assignments—Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, any assignment after the commencement of this Act, of land belonging to the Government, under any law for the time being in force shall be subject to the condition that the - assignee shall not, without the previous permission in writing of the authorised officer, cut, uproot or burn, or cause to be cut, uprooted or burnt, any tree standing on such land at the time of such assignment, and the provisions of this Act shall apply in relation to such permission as if they apply in relation to a permission under section 4.
23. Power to make rules—(1) The Government may, by notification in the Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for—-
(a) the girth of trees which may be permitted to be cut;
‘
(b) the terms and conditions subject to which permission may be granted;
(c) the procedure to be followed by the authorised olficer ' before granting or refusing permission;
(d) the procedure to be followed by the appellate authority in the disposal of an appeal under section 7;
(e) any other matter which has to be, or may be, prescribed.
v) ‘— 245
24. Laying of notifications amd. mics before Legislative Assembly-—Every notification issued under sub-section (1) of section 5 and every rule made under section 23 shall be laid, as soon as may be after it*s issued or made, before the Legislative Assembly wh1le it is in session for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, the . Legislative Assembly makes any modification in the notification or rule or decides that the notification or rule should not be issued or made, the notification or rule shall thereafter have efiect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so however that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that notification or rule.
25. Power to remove d/ifiiculties.—-(1) If any difliculty arisesm giving effect to the provisions of this Act the Government may, by order published in the Gazette make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. which appear to them necessary for the purpose of removing the difficulty:
(2) Every such order made under this section shall, as soou as may be after it is made, be laid before the legislative Assembly.
26. Repeal and saving.———(1) The Kerala Restriction on Cutting and Destruction of Valuable Trees Act, 1974 (7 of 1974), and the Kerala Preservation of Trees Ordinance, 1986 (65 of 1986) are hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the Kerala Preservation of Tiees Ordinance, 1986 (65 of 1986), anythin done or deemed to have been done or any action taken or deem to have been taken under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under this Act:
Provided that no person convicted of an offence with respect to anything so deemed to have been done under this Act, shall be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have been inflicted under the law applicable to such offence, in force at the time of the commission of such offence:
Provided further that nothing contained in this section shall render any person liable to be convicted of an oifence in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by him after the let day of August, 1983 and before the 30th day August, 1983 and after the 6th day of January, 1984 and before the 15th day of February, 1984.