Antony Dominic, J.

1. Prayer sought in this original petition is to quash Ext.P5, a notification issued under Rule 2A of the Kerala Private Forest (Vesting and Assignment) Rules, 1974 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules for short).

2. Briefly stated, facts of the case are that the petitioners are owners of 50.1 acres of land situated in survey Nos.509/1, 509/2 and 509/3 of Thodernadu Village in Mananthavady Taluk, Wayanad District. It is stated that in respect of the said land, the petitioners' predecessors in interest, being cultivating tenants, were issued Exts.P3 to P3(c), certificates of purchase under the provisions of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, way back in 1973. According to the petitioners, they purchased the property, which was already a coffee plantation, by six sale deeds executed in 1992.

3. It is also their case that before the sale deeds were executed in their favour, they had obtained NOC from the Forest Department for getting the property conveyed in their favour. On purchasing the property, they got the property mutated in their names and were paying tax in respect of the land.

4. While they were thus enjoying the property, in 2001 their possession was obstr