The judgment establishes that necessary construction to aid agricultural activity may be permitted even within restrictive lease terms.

JUDGMENT

The petitioner says that he is the owner of 122.30 ares of property in Sy.Nos.135/6/1, 135/6 and 137/2 of Rajakumary Village along with 19.63 ares in Sy.No.80/2A of Pooppara Village, Udumbanchola Taluk and that he has put the entire property to cardamom cultivation, in terms of the grant of lease by the Government, under the Cardamom Lease Rules , 1933.

2. The petitioner says that for effective cultivation of cardamom in the area, he requires to engage several workmen and employees, as also to store manure, pesticides and the harvested cardamom. He submits that, therefore, for such purpose, he approached the Local Self Government Institution for permission to construct a small structure in his property and that he was then asked to approach the second respondent – Tahsildar, to obtain an appropriate No Objection Certificate (NOC) for this purpose.

3. The petitioner says that, however, when he made an application for NOC before the Tahsildar, he appears to have got a report from the Village Officer and then issued Ext.P6 rejecting it, saying that in a property covered by the Cardamom Lease Rules , no construction can be made.

4. The petitioner asserts that the construction now sought for by him is a small one, which is intended only to provide for a store room for the purpose of storing manure, pesticides and the harvested cardamom, along with a small dining/refreshment area for his employees and a toilet and kitchen. He maintains that this construction is necessary for him to carry on cultivation of cardamom in his property and therefore, that the stand of the Tahsildar in Ext.P6, that no such construction can be made, is untenable and contrary to law.

5. The petitioner thus prays that Ext.P6 be set aside and the second respondent - Tahsildar be directed to issue an appropriate NOC to him, for the purpose of obtaining a building permit from the Local Self Government Institution.

6. I have heard Sri.Latheesh Sebastian, the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Government Pleader.

7. The learned Government Pleader submitted that, as is virtually admitted by the petitioner himself, lands which are assigned under lease, as per the terms of the Cardamom Lease Rules , cannot be used for any other purpose and that the request of the petitioner for construction of a building thereon certainly violates the same. He argued that, therefore, the Tahsildar was completely within his jurisdiction to have issued Ext.P6, declining NOC for such purpose.

8. I have considered the afore rival contentions of the parties very carefully.

9. There can be no doubt – it being virtually admitted –

that the lands in question can only be used for the purpose of cardamom cultivation. However, what is pertinent in this case is that the petitioner says that he is putting the property to only such use and that he requires the construction, which he desires to put up therein, only for the purpose of furthering such cultivation. His explanation is that unless there is a store room for storing the manure, pesticides and harvested cardamom and unless he provides the basic requirements to his workmen, cultivation in this area would become impossible.

10. When I examine Ext.P6, it is clear that the Tahsildar has not looked into this aspect at all, but has rejected the petitioner's request, holding that no construction, of whatever nature, can be permitted in the land in question. I am, however, of the view that if the petitioner is able to establish and demonstrate that he is proposing the construction solely to aid cardamom cultivation then it will require the Tahsildar to carefully analyse it and decide whether such construction would violate the terms of the lease or if it will further its intent. This is because, the Rules only prohibit the use of the land for purposes other than cardamom cultivation but does not specifically inhibit the installation or putting up of essential infrastructural requirements to aid such activity.

11. Resultantly, I all