JUDGMENT

The petitioners are husband and wife. They are the owner in possession of 0.39 Ares and 1.21 Ares of land comprised in Re-survey Nos.82/4 and 82/4-2 respectively in Nedumbassery Village in Aluva Taluk, covered under Exts.P1 and P2 possession certificates. The properties are converted land and are unsuitable for paddy cultivation. Nevertheless, the respondents have erroneously classified the properties as 'paddy land' and included it in the data bank maintained under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 , and the Rules framed thereunder (‘Act’ and ‘Rules', for brevity). To exclude the properties from the data bank, the petitioners had submitted Exts.P3 and P4 applications in Form 5, under Rule 4(4d) of the Rules. However, by Exts.P7 and P8 orders, the authorised officer has summarily rejected the application without either conducting a personal inspection of the land or calling for the satellite pictures as man