The court emphasized the necessity for statutory authorities to evaluate the impact of land reclamation on adjacent agricultural lands per legal protocols.

JUDGMENT

This writ petition is filed with following prayers:

i. Call for the records leading to the issuance of Ext.P-

9 order passed by the 1st respondent dismissing petitioner’s Ext.P-8 appeal filed under Sec.27B of Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wet Land Act and to issue a writ of certiorari quashing the same;

ii. Issue a writ of mandamus or other appropriate writ, order or direction, commanding the 1st respondent to take up Ext.P-8 appeal petition afresh and pass appropriate orders thereon in view of the binding precedents in several judgments passed by this Hon’ble Court, within a time frame to be fixed by this Hon’ble Court, in the interest of justice.

iii. To dispense with the production of English Translation of Malayalam Exhibits produced along with the Writ Petition in the interest of Justice;

iv. Render such other orders or directions as this Hon’ble Court may deem, just, fit and necessary in the facts and circumstances of the case.

(SIC)

2. Petitioner is in the absolute ownership and possession of 8.10 Ares of un-notified and uncultivable land comprised in Survey No.66/7-15 of Venmanad Village, Chavakkad Taluk, Thrissur District as per Partition Deed No.2197/1/2012 dated 11.09.2012 of Chavakkad Sub Registry is the submission. According to the petitioner, in the notified data bank, the petitioner's land has been excluded. Hence the petitioner submitted an application in Form-6 before the 2^nd respondent for the change of classification of the petitioner’s land from Nilam to Purayidam in revenue records. The 2^nd respondent rejected the petitioner’s Form-6 application observing that the petitioner’s property was excluded from the data bank by mistake, and directed the 4th respondent Agricultural Officer to take necessary steps to include the petitioner’s land in the data bank. Aggrieved by the above order, the petitioner filed an appeal before the 1st respondent. The appeal is also dismissed. Aggrieved by the same, this writ petition is filed.

3. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Government Pleader.

4. The counsel for the petitioner reiterated the contentions raised in this writ petition. The Government Pleader takes me through the statement filed by the 2nd respondent.

5. This Court perused Ext.P7 order passed by the authorised officer in the Form-6 application, in which it is only stated that it is a water logged area. It is also stated in the impugned order that the property is excluded from the data bank by mistake. The same order is confirmed by the District Collector in the appeal, as evident by Ext.P9. This Court in Shinila P.C. v. State of Kerala [ 2025 (2) KHC 273 ] considered the manner in which a Form-6 application is to be considered.

It will be better to extract paragraphs 12 to 19:

“12. The crucial aspect to be noticed is that, Subsection 4 starts with the words “if the application is allowed..” . This would mean that, once the application is allowed, it is the obligation on the part of the Revenue Divisional Officer to ensure that the reclamation of the land is not adversely affecting the cultivation of paddy or any other crops in the adjoining lands and shall specify such water conservancy measures as is necessary. Therefore, while conducting an inquiry for an application under Section 27A , the scope of such inquiry is confined to the question as to whether the said reclamation would result in disruption to free flow of water to the neighbouring paddy lands or would it affect the cultivation of paddy or any other crops, if any, in the adjoining lands as held by this Court in George Varghese (Supra) , as well as in Nikkie Varughese John v. Revenue Divisional Officer/Sub Collector, Muvattupuzha , 2024 (2) KLT 296 . 13. It is the general rule of interpretation that , if a statute enumerates the things upon which it is to operate, everything else must necessarily, and by implication, be excluded from its operation and effect, can be rightly found in the maxim “expressio unius es