The statutory requirement of independent assessment by the authorized officer for land exclusion under conservation laws is mandatory.

JUDGMENT

This Writ Petition (C) is filed seeking the following reliefs:

" (i) call for the records leading to the passing of Ext.P4 by the 1^st respondent and quash the same by the issue of a writ of certiorari or other appropriate writ, order or direction;

(ii) issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing respondents 1 and 2 to reconsider Ext- P3 application submitted by the petitioner in Form No.5 of the Act after putting him on notice and affording to him an opportunity of being heard and obtaining appropriate inputs from the KSREC;

(iii) issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the 1^st respondent to correct the erroneous entries in the data bank by deleting the petitioner’s property mentioned in Ext.P1 from the data bank."

[SIC]

2. The petitioner is aggrieved by the order passed by the

1^st respondent rejecting the Form–5 application submitted by him under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Rules , 2008 (‘Rules’, for brevity). The main grievance of the petitioner is that the authorised officer has not considered the contentions of the petitioner. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that Ext.P2 Kerala Land Utilisation Order is also available as far as the property is concerned, and the same has also not been considered.

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

4. This Court perused the impugned order. I am of the considered opinion that the authorised officer has failed to comply with the statutory requirements. The impugned order was passed by the authorised officer solely based on the report of the Agricultural Officer. There is no indication in the order that the authorised officer has directly inspected the property or called for the satellite pictures as mandated under Rule 4(4f) of the Rules. There is no independent finding regarding the nature and character of the land as on the relevant date by the authorised officer. Moreover, the authorised officer has not considered whether the exclusion of the property would prejudicially affect the surrounding paddy fields.

5. This Court in Muraleedharan Nair R v. Revenue Divisional Officer [ 2023 (4) KHC 524 ], Sudheesh U v. The Revenue Divisional Officer, Palakkad [ 2023 (2) KLT 386 ], and Joy K.K. v. The Revenue Divisional Officer/Sub Collector, Ernakulam [ 2021 (1) KLT 433 ], observed that the competent authority is obliged to assess the nature, lie and character of the land and its suitability for paddy cultivation as on 12.08.2008, which are the decisive criteria to determine whether the property merits exclusion from the data bank. The impugned order is not in accordance with the principle laid down by this Court in the above judgments. Therefore, I am of the considered opinion that the impugned order is to be set aside.

Therefore, this Writ Petition is allowed in the following manner:

1. Ext.P4 order is set aside.

2. The 1^st respondent/authorised o to reconsider Ext.P3 Form – 5 application in accordance with the law. The authorised officer shall either conduct a personal inspection of the property or, alternatively, call for the satellite pictures, in accordance with Rule 4(4f) of the Rules, at the cost of the petitioner, if not already called for.

3. If satellite pictures are called for, the application shall be disposed of within three months from the date of receipt of such pictures. On the other hand, if the authorised officer opts to personally inspect the property, the application shall be considered and disposed o