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K. VINOD CHANDRAN, C. JAYACHANDRAN
Prime Land Holdingss Pvt. Ltd. Represented By Managing Director, Jose Kynadi Kuttanad, Bank Road, Kozhikode District – Appellant
Versus
Govt. Of Kerala Represented By The Chief Secretary To Govt. Of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
K.Vinod Chandran, J.
The applicant before the Tribunal is a Company concerned with the vesting of 40 hectors of the 150 acres purchased by the Company as per Annexure-A1 in the year 1993. The entire properties were exempted under the Kerala Land Reforms Act by the Taluk Land Board, Vythiri by Exts.A2 and A3 proceedings. The applicant purchased 150 acres of well developed coffee plantations and maintained and nurtured it all these years. The applicant had been paying plantation tax and land revenue for the properties. For the purpose of internal reorganization the land was divided into three sections the Vythiri Habitats, Vythiri Resorts and Vythiri Farms respectively covering 75, 25 and 50 acres, which lands are registered as plantations. The applicant has also established a hotel complex with club house, rooms, cottages, swimming pool, ayurvedic centre etc for promoting international tourism without disturbing, changing or altering the nature and character of the land as a coffee plantation. Building permits were obtained from the Vythiri Panchayath in the years 1993-94 and 1999-2000. There are regular workers working in the plantation and staff to man the offices.
2. It w
'Forest', which speaks of lands which are principally covered with naturally grown trees and undergrowth and includes any recognized, declared, protected or otherwise forest land.
The principal cultivation or existence of tea plantation, for the land to be excluded from the definition of EFL Act, has to be established as existing on 02.06.2000, the appointed day under the EFL ....
Under EFL Act, applicant has to prove that land is principally cultivated with long duration crops or is a plantation, or beneficial enjoyment for a building, which alone can exclude it from definiti....
State having deprived owner of the possession of land and legal right to cultivate it cannot take advantage of its own wrong.
The court clarified that a property exempted under the Vesting Act may still be classified as ecologically fragile under the EFL Act, emphasizing the need for evidence of cultivation as of the appoin....
The court affirmed that the property in question does not qualify as 'Ecologically Fragile Land' or 'Forest' under the Kerala Forest Act, based on the evidence presented.
It is well settled that local inspection is not intended to substitute the enquiry envisaged in law.
The EFL Act requires a nature assessment of land as of the appointed date, not merely the intent to cultivate, to determine ecological status.
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