JUDGMENT :

It is very ubiquitous in our State that the nature and attributes of properties are at variance from the entries relating to it in the Basic Tax Register (BTR) and such other Revenue Records; and this has created the controversy presented in these cases.

2. The properties of the petitioners in the above Writ Petitions are described as “Wet lands” in the Basic Tax Register (BTR), but are stated to be far from such attributes presently.

3. The petitioners assert that their lands have remained with all the features of a “Garden/Dry Land” even prior to the year 2008, when the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land, Act (hereinafter referred to as the “Paddy Land Act” for ease), was brought into force and that this is incontestable since they are not included in the “Data Bank”, prepared under its sanction.

4. While so, it transpires that the lands in question in these cases were acquired for the purposes of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and when the final notification under Section 3D of the National Highway Act, (“NH Act” for short) was issued, they have been described as “Wet lands”, adopting the entries in the BTR.

5. The petitioners thus apprehend that, solely be