JUDGMENT :

M.R. SHAH, J.

1. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order dated 23.11.2017 passed by the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam in Writ Appeal No. 29/2011, by which the Division Bench of the High Court has dismissed the said appeal preferred by the appellants herein and has not interfered with the judgment and order dated 8.7.2010 passed by the learned Single Judge of the High Court in Writ Petition (C) No.11252/2008, by which the learned Single Judge directed the appellants herein to accept the basic tax from the respondents herein – original writ petitioners under the provisions of the Kerala Land Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘1961 Act’) with respect to the lands in question, the Village Officer, Kannur District, Kerala and others have preferred the present appeal.

2. The facts leading to the present appeal in a nutshell are as under:

That the Kerala Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘1971 Act’) came into force in the year 1971. Section 3 of the 1971 Act provides that notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, or in any contract or other documen