The court affirmed the legality of using seized excavators for agricultural purposes under a government project, emphasizing the importance of promoting agricultural awareness.

JUDGMENT

The petitioner has approached this Court seeking a direction to the respondents to return/release the Excavators/Hitachis seized by the 3^rd respondent as per Ext.P6 to petitioners 2 and 3, forthwith, without any further delay.

2. The 1^st petitioner is the Mother Superior of Little Flower Convent, Chelakkara, Thrissur. The Convent is running an aided Higher Secondary School. Petitioners 2 and 3 are the owners of the Excavators/Hitachi. The contention of the petitioners is that the Advisory Committee of the National Service Scheme [NSS] of the School, in the meeting conducted on 21.12.2021, decided that through ‘Haritha’ project of the Government to make awareness and affinity towards agriculture among the students, to start agricultural operations in the paddy land owned by the Convent. Consequently, the Executive Committee of the PTA decided to start vegetable cultivation in the said land by Students Police Cadets [SPC] and NSS as evident from Ext.P2. Therefore, pursuant to the said decision, Ext.P3 request was made before the 3^rd respondent-Village Officer for permission to use Hitachi for the cultivation activities and after getting permissions from respondents 2 and 3, Hitachis were used to make the paddy land fit for vegetable cultivation and on 19.01.2022 the SPCs and NSS volunteers of the School planted several vegetables in the said land. Thereafter, by Ext.P6 the Hitachi and the Excavators were seized by the 3^rd respondent. It is aggrieved by the same that the petitioners have filed this writ petition.

3. When the matter was taken up for consideration on 16.03.2022, this Court has passed an interim order directing the 3^rd respondent to return the Excavators/Hitachis seized as per Ext.P6 to the petitioners 2 and 3 forthwith and the petitioners 2 and 3 shall undertake to produce the same, if it is necessary, at any later point of time.

4. Admittedly, what has been undertaken by the petitioners is cultivation of vegetables and other food crops in the land owned by the 1^st petitioner under the ‘Haritha’ project of the Government and it is only to level the said land that Hitachis were used.

Taking into consideration the above facts and circumstances and after hearing the learned Counsel for the petitioners and the learned Government Pleader, I am inclined to quash Ext.P6 and all subsequent proceedings and making the interim order to the extent it directed the release of the Excavators/Hitachis to the petitioners 2 and 3 absolute.

The writ petition is disposed of as above.

Sd/-