M. Venugopal, J.

1. Heard both sides.

2. No counter is filed on behalf of the Respondents 1 to 5.

3. By consent, the main Writ Petition itself is taken up for final disposal during the time of admission.

4. According to the Petitioner, a strip of land measuring 9.366 Cents in Re-Survey No.B7/124 in Thuckalay Village, Padmanabhapuram Municipal Limit, Kanyakumari District lying East-West along the Northern Border of the Trivandrum–Nagercoil Road (NH.47) (Opposite to the 'Court House' in Padmanabhapuram Municipal Town at Thuckalay, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District) [hereinafter referred to as 'Property A'] was part of the registered holding of his maternal grandfather, viz., Late. Thiru. Vaithiyanathan, which lay on the North of National Highway. It is comprised in Lekkom 321 of Thuckalay Village of the Former Travancore–Cochin State.

5. The plea of the Petitioner is that when the lands were originally surveyed in the Travancore-Cochin State, the above said property 'A' lying in the North of the said road was blocked in old Survey No.3153 and it was classified as the patta holding of his grandfather Late. Thiru. Vaithiyanathan. The road in the South of the land i.e., Trivandrum–Nagercoil Road was surveyed as Survey No. 3152 and classified as 'Poramboke'. Later, the road survey was, however, re-opened and re-surveyed and the property 'A' of the Petitioner's grandfather in old Survey No.3153 was wrongly blocked with the poramboke property in Survey No.3152. Pursuant to the wrong blocking of the property 'A', the Revenue Authorities initiated land encroachment case in poramboke File No.20/1108 M.E.(1933) against the Petitioner's grandfather on the charge that he was in unauthorized occupation of poramboke land for 35 years by putting up the buildings.

6. Added further, the Petitioner takes a stand that his grandfather Late. Vaithiyanathan was found guilty of encroachment and 70 Fanams was recovered as fine from him by the Tahsildar of Kalkulam. Later, he preferred Appeals before the Division Paishkar and the Land Revenue Commissioner and he failed in those Appeals. Thereupon, he laid a Civil Suit in O.S.No.55 of 1113 M.E. before the District Court, Nagercoil, assailing the land encroachment proceedings against him.

7. The suit came to be decreed in favour of the Petitioner's grandfather and his title and possession over the property 'A' in Old Survey No.3153 was declared and the order of 1943 in the Land Encroachment Case was set aside. Further, the State was directed to refund the 70 Fanams recovered form the Petitioner's grandfather. Aggrieved over the same, the State of Travancore–Cochin preferred Appeal in A.S.No.47/1124 M.E., which was, later, dismissed with cost in the year 1953. In the meanwhile, the Petitioner's grandfather Vaithiyanathan died on 13.05.1939. However, the survey records pertaining to the property 'A' remained uncorrected and the said property 'A' in old Survey No.3153 was again classified as poramboke and re-surveyed together with the National Highways road under the Tamil Nadu (Transferred) Ryotwari Settlement Act, 1964. Under the re-settlement, the said National Highway Road was correlated to the New Survey No.B7/124 comprising old Survey Nos.3152 and 3153 and part Survey Nos.3145 and 3149.

8. The Petitioner's grandfather Vaithiyanathan had five children. The Petitioner's father died on 04.02.1976. Later, the Petitioner (owner of the land in Re-Survey No.B7/92), one Herbert Spencer, S/o. Late V.Masterlee (owner of the land in Re-Survey No.B7/93) and one S.Wilfred Sam Joseph, S/o. Late V.Stanislaus (owner of the land in Re-Survey No.B7/91) became the owners of the land measuring an extent of 5 Cents in the Western side of the said property 'A' (abutting the Petitioner's patta land in the above said survey numbers) which are adjoining the aforesaid lands owned by them (hereinafter referred to as property 'B').

9. Because of the wrong blocking of the property 'A' with the road in New Re-Survey No.B7/124, sudde