Point of Law: writ of mandamus – Purchase certificate - If it is felt that there is delay in obtaining reports through the Revenue Inspectors on account of their shortage, Land Tribunal is free to get the reports from Village Officers concerned. It is the discretion of the Land Tribunal in what manner such reports should be obtained.

JUDGMENT :

The petitioner has filed this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking a writ of mandamus commanding the 2nd respondent Special Tahsildar (LR) to conduct expeditious enquiry and to dispose of S.M.No.452/2021 on the file of the Land Tribunal, Tirur, within a time limit to be fixed by this Court. The suo motu proceedings initiated by the Land Tribunal, Tirur under Rule 5 of the Kerala Land Reforms (Vesting and Assignment) Rules, 1970, is one for assignment of the right, title and interest of the landlord vested in the Government under Section 72 of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 and for issuance of certificate of purchase under Section 72K of the said Act, read with Rule 14 of the said Rules, in respect of 04.86 Ares of land comprised in Re-Sy.No.265/2 of Ezhuvathiruthi Village in Malappuram District.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and also the learned Government Pleader appearing for the respondents.

3. In Narayanan Namboodiri v. The Special Tahsildar (Land Reforms) and another [Judgment dated 14.03.2018 in W.P.(C)No.28398 of 2017 and connected cases] this Court noticed that in the writ petitions seeking expeditious disposal of the applications pending before the Land Tribunal for obtaining purchase certificate, many of the petitioners realised the need for purchase certificate only when they approached the Bank to obtain a loan. Filing writ petitions seeking expeditious disposal of the applications pending before the Land Tribunal is a routine affair before this Court. Breaking the queue by directing the Land Tribunals to dispose of the cases out of turn would result in derailing the process of disposal of the cases pending before the Tribunal. Therefore, the Land Tribunal is bound to dispose the cases in accordance with the seniority of registration of such cases.

4. In Narayanan Namboodiri, this Court noticed that by G.O.(P).No.09/2018/RD dated 22.02.2018 the Government of Kerala appointed the Village Officers coming within the jurisdiction of each Land Tribunal constituted under Section 99 of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 for bringing to the notice of the Land Tribunal concerned any fact or information required by the Land Tribunal or for moving that Tribunal to take any action necessary for the implementation of the provisions of the said Act. Therefore, there may not be any difficulty to obtain the reports through the Village Officers concerned. Before this Court, the Government in principle agreed for speedy disposal of the cases filed by the senior citizens and addressed all the Land Tribunals to give priority to such cases. This Court noticed that in some of the cases, delay occurred on account of serving notice on the landlords, which can be averted if the applicant in such cases co-operate with the Land Tribunal in taking out notice to such persons. On consideration of the facts and circumstances, this Court disposed of those writ petitions with certain directions. Paragraph 2 of the said judgment reads thus;

“2. On consideration of the facts and circumstances as above, this Court is of the view that the following directions can be issued for expeditious disposal of the cases by the Land Tribunal:

(i) If it is felt that there is delay in obtaining reports through the Revenue Inspectors on account of their shortage, the Land Tribunal is free to get the reports from the Village Officers concerned. It is the discretion of the Land Tribunal in what manner such reports should be obtained.

(ii) Utmost importance should be given for expeditious disposal of all the cases filed by the senior citizens. The Land Tribunal shall dispose such cases of senior citizens on seniority basis within six months.

(iii) In respect of all other cases, the Land Tribunal shall follow the seniority of such cases and dispose the same within the maximum outer limit of 18 months unless there is a stay passed by the higher authorities. The Land Tribunal shall not break the seniority of such ca