IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ALEXANDER THOMAS MONDAY,THE 05TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2018 / 14TH KARTHIKA, 1940 WP(C).No.33013 of 2018 PETITIONERS:

1 P.T.KUNHALI ALIAS KUNHALIKKUTTY AGED 50 YEARS S/O MAHAMMAD, PATTATHODIKA KOLOTH HOUSE, POOKIPARAMBA, THENNALA P O-676511, VALAKKULAM, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT

2 ABDUL SALAM AGED 48 YEARS, S/O.MOHAMMAD KUTTY, THENNALA AMSOM APPALA DESOM, THENNALA.P.O-676511, TIRURANGADI TALUK, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT.

3 SAFIYA.C AGED 39 YEARS, W/O.ABUBAKAR SIDDIQUE, VELLAKKAT HOUSE, CHALILPARA, THENNALA.P.O-676511, TIRURANGADI TALUK, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT. BY ADV. SRI.M.KRISHNA KUMAR RESPONDENTS:

1 THE VILLAGE OFFICER THENNALA VILLAGE OFFICE, VALAKKULAM P O-676501, TIRURANGADI TALUK, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT

2 THE THAHSILDAR TIRURANGADI TALUK, TALUK OFFICE, TIRURANGADI, KURUKATHANI-KOTTAKKAL ROAD, TIRURANGADI-676306, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT.

3 KOTT MAHALLU MUSLIM JAMA-ATH COMMITTEE REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, KOTT JUMA MASJID, T.S.ROAD, TIRUR-676501, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT.

OTHER PRESENT:

SRI.JESTIN MATHEW, GOVT.PLEADER FOR R1 AND R2 THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON

05.11.2018, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

ALEXANDER THOMAS, J.

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W.P(C)No.33013 of 2018 =============================

Dated this the 5^th day of November, 2018

JUDGMENT

The prayers in the aforecaptioned Writ Petition (Civil) are as follows:

“I. to issue a writ of mandamus or any other writ order or direction to direct the 1^st respondent to continue to accept basic tax from the petitioners as was being done previously and referable to Exhibit-P 3-A, Exhibit P4-A & Exhibit P5-A unless and until prohibited by a judicial order.

And, issue each other writ, order or direction as this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper.”

2. Heard Sri.M.Krishna Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners and Sri.Jestin Mathew, learned Government Pleader appearing for official respondents 1 & 2. In the nature of the orders proposed to be passed in this Writ Petition, notice to contesting respondent No.3 will stand dispensed with.

3. The petitioners’ state that they are “Land holders” as defined under Sec.3(3) of the Kerala Land Tax Act, 1961 and that the three petitioners herein owned 23, 6.5 & 12 cents of lands, which are portions of the larger extent scheduled to Ext.P-1 Purchase Certificate issued in the year 1990 by the Land Tribunal, Parappanangadi. That thereafter, mutations have also been duly carried out by the predecessors in the interest of the petitioners and the petitioners have been regularly paying basic land tax under the Kerala Land Tax Act, 1961. That each of the petitioners have also separately built residential houses in these small parts of the land and has been living there undisturbed for quite a long number of years, it is stated. The copies of the property tax receipts accepted from the petitioners are produced as documents as in Exts.P-3(a), P-4(a), P-5(a) respectively and copies of the building property tax receipts issued by the local authority concerned in respect of the petitioners have been produced as Exts.P-3(b), P-4(b), P-5(b), etc. and the Ownership Certificates of the buildings concerned constructed on those properties have been produced as Exts.P-3(c), P-4(c) etc. The complaint of the petitioners is that the 1^st respondent-Village Officer has refused to accept basic land tax, in respect of the above properties from the petitioners and thereupon, the petitioners had made enquiries by filing requests under the Right to Information Act to elicit the ground of rejection and in reply under the RTI proceedings, the 1^st respondent has now informed as per Ext.P-6 letter dated 14.08.2018 that the 3^rd respondent-Jama-Ath Committee has raised a complaint before the Kerala State Wakf Board that they have now discovered that the properties belonging to the petitioners as well as the entire land (2.60 acres), scheduled in Ext.P-1 Purchase Certificate is incl