18. No right acquired over reserved forest except as here provided.
- No right of any description shall be acquired in or over a reserved forest except under a grant or contract in writing made by or on behalf of the Government, or by or on behalf of some person in whom such right, or the power to create such right, was vested when the notification under section 16 was published or by succession from such persons:Provided that no patta shall, without previous sanction of the [Board of Revenue] [Substituted for the words 'Governor in Council' by the Tamil Nadu Decentralisation Act, 1914 (Tamil Nadu Act VIII of 1914).] be granted on behalf of Government for any land included within a reserved forest, and every patta granted without such sanction shall be null and void.
