Court affirms landowner's right to level property not listed in preservation data bank, requiring future construction to comply with legal authority.

JUDGMENT

This writ petition is filed seeking the following reliefs:

“(i) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other direction or order commanding the 1st respondent not to prevent the petitioners from leveling, the property covered by Ext. P-3 to Ext. P-

9 sale deeds;

(ii) Grant such other order as this Hon'ble Court deems fit and necessary in the facts and circumstance of the case;

(iii) Dispense with the English translation of the documents in the vernacular exhibited in the memorandum of W. P. (C).”

[SIC]

2. The petitioners’ property covered by Exts.P3 to P9 sale deeds are not included in the data bank prepared under the Kerala conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act and Rules, 2008. The property of the petitioners are lying unevenly, and the petitioners had arranged men and material for leveling of the property with red earth. When the said activities were being carried out, the officials attached to the Cherthala Police station came to the spot and prevented the same, based on some anonymous complaints raised by some local people. Though an excavator which was being used for leveling the ground was seized, the same was later released by the police with a condition that any activity in the property can be done only with the permission of the police. According to the petitioners, the action of the police is illegal and unauthorized, especially, because the property is not included in the data bank.

3. The petitioners relied the judgment of this Court in Deepu v. District Collector [2025 5 KHC 90] and Falcon Infrastructures Ltd. Vs. State of Kerala (2023 KHC Online 535) . It is submitted that the petitioners do not have any intention of making construction either for residential or commercial, in the property or for putting the same to use for any purpose other than the one for which it is being used. Hence, this writ petition. 4. When this writ petition came up for consideration on 02.12.2025, this Court directed the Government Pleader to get instructions, whether the property of the petitioners is included in the data bank. Today, the learned Government Pleader based on the instruction received from the 3^rd respondent dated 15.12.205 submitted that the property is not included in the data bank. 5. This Court inDeepu’s case (supra) observed that, the land owner can use the land as garden land in a more profitable way by leveling the land or by importing red earth/ordinary earth in the unnotified land or by developing the land being used as a playground. Similarly, inFalcon Infrastructures Ltd’s case (supra), this Court said that, if the work carried out is only for facilitating parking of lorries, as long as the petitioner is going to use the land only for the purposes for which the land was used as stated, no permission of the Revenue Divisional Officer is required.

6. The petitioners submitted that, their intention is only to level the property, and if there is any proposal for construction or other activities, the petitioners will get permission from the authorised officer, in accordance with law.

If that is the case, I think the prayer can be allowed.

Therefore, this writ petition is disposed of with the following directions:

i) The 1^st respondent shall not prevent the petitioners from leveling the property covered by Exts.P3 to P9 sale deeds.

ii) I make it clear that, if the petitioners use the property for any other purpose, or for construction, necessary orders should be obtained from the competent authority, in accordance with the law.