Failure to adhere to statutory requirements in land determination led to the overturning of prior orders.

JUDGMENT

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

" i. Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction to quash Ext. P4 order dated 26.06.2025 issued by the 2^nd respondent, as arbitrary, illegal.

ii. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction commanding the respondents to reconsider the petitioner’s Form 5 application in accordance with law, after conducting a personal inspection or relying on scientific data, and to pass fresh orders within a time frame fixed by this Hon’ble Court.

iii. Declare that the petitioner’s land in Re-Survey No. 98/12-1-2, Block No. 21, Vengola Village is not suitable for paddy cultivation and does not fall within the definition of “paddy land” under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 ."

[SIC]

2. The petitioner is aggrieved by the order passed by the 2^nd respondent rejecting the Form–5 application submitted by her 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.

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. Eventhough, KSREC report is available, the same is not properly considered by the authorized officer. 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.

6. The Government Pleader submitted that the impugned order was passed after an inspection of the property. But a perusal of Ext.P4 itself would show that the inspection was conducted by the office of the Authorised Officer and not by the Authorised officer.

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

1. Ext.P4 order is set aside.

2. The 2^nd respondent/authorised o to reconsider petitioner’s 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 of within two months from the date of production of a copy of this judgment by the petitioner.

4. If the Authorised Officer is either dismissing or allowing the petition, a speak