Section 23 in Sikkim Forests, Water Courses and Road Reserve (Preservation and Protection) Act, 1988
23. No such notification referred to in sub-section (1) of section 22 shall be issued unless the nature and extent of the rights of the Government and of private persons in or over the khasmal and gorucharan forests is inquired into and recorded in a survey and settlement record, or in such other manner as the' Government thinks sufficient. Every such record shall be presumed to be correct until proved otherwise.
Provided that in the case of any khasmal or gorucharan forests, if the Government thinks that such inquiry and record are necessary but that the completion thereof will occupy such length of time as may endanger the rights of Government, the Government may, pending such inquiry and record, declare such land to be khasmal or gorucharan forest, as the case may be, but so, however, the existing rights of individuals or communities are affected as little as possible.
