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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
ZIYAD RAHMAN A.A., J
Ratheesh T.m. – Appellant
Versus
Agricultural Officer – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
The petitioner is the owner in possession a property having an extent of 3.7403 Ares comprised in Survey No.62/4 (renumbered as 62/28) of Chelannur Village, Kozhikode Taluk in Kozhikode District. The petitioner purchased the said property as per Ext.P1 sale deed dated 16.02.2021.
2. According to the petitioner, he purchased the said property after being convinced of the fact that the property was not included in the Data Bank. After the purchase of the said property, the petitioner applied for a building permit for constructing a residential building, and after processing the said application, the 7th respondent granted Ext.P8 building permit. However, as certain objections were raised with regard to the same, in view of the fact that property remained as paddy land in the revenue records, the petitioner submitted Ext.P9 application in Form 6 on 28.01.2022. While the said application was pending consideration, the petitioner was served with Ext.P10 notice by the Secretary to the 7th respondent, requiring the petitioner to show cause why the building permit granted to him shall not be cancelled. The reason mentioned in Ext.P10 was that, as per the report of the Convenor of
The inclusion of property in the Data Bank without notice violates natural justice principles, affecting the owner's rights.
The court affirmed the necessity of following statutory procedures for data inclusion, emphasizing that the authority to manage the Data Bank lies solely with the designated Committee under the Act.
The central legal point established in the judgment is that a property covered by a previous order under the Kerala Land Utilization Order should not have been included in the data bank prepared unde....
The classification of land as 'paddy or wetland' must be based on independent assessment and actual conditions, not solely on subordinate reports or revenue records.
The Revenue Divisional Officer must independently assess land status for removal from the Data Bank, rather than relying solely on external reports.
The LLMC's prior decision to remove converted land from the data bank must be respected, and the RDO's rejection of the application was found to be erroneous.
The Local Level Monitoring Committee holds exclusive authority to determine property inclusion in the data bank under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, prohibiting direct orders ....
The classification of land as wetland solely due to low-lying and waterlogged conditions is erroneous; only the Local Level Monitoring Committee can determine inclusion in the data bank, affirming ju....
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