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NASEEB ALI, v. THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL K.NARENDRAN
TUESDAY, THE 30TH DAY OF JULY 2019 / 8TH SRAVANA, 1941 WP(C).No.19197 of 2019
PETITIONER:
NASEEB ALI,
AGED 34 YEARS
S/O. MOIDEEN, PONNANGATHODI HOUSE, ARIPRA POST,
PERINTHALAMANNA TALUK, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT.
BY ADV. SRI.P.ABDUL NISHAD
RESPONDENTS:
1 THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER
PERINTHALMANNA, PERINTHALAMANNA P.O, MALAPPURAM
DISTRICT, PIN 679 322
2 THE VILLAGE OFFICER,
PUZHAKKATTIRI VILLAGE OFFICER, POST PUZHAKKATTIRI,
MALAPPURAM DISTRICT, PIN 679 321
3 THE AGRICULTURAL OFFICER,
PUZHAKKATTIRI GRAMA PANCHAYATH, POST PUZHAKKATTIRI,
MALAPPURAM DISTRICT, PIN 679 321
4 THE LOCAL LEVEL MONITORING COMMITTEE,
PUZHAKKATTIRI GRAMA PANCHAYATH, POST PUZHAKKATTIRI,
MALAPPURAM DISTRICT, PIN 679 321, REPRESENTED BY ITS
CONVENER.
5 PUZHAKKATTIRI GRAMA PANCHAYATH,
POST PUZHAKKATTIRI, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT, PIN 679 321,
REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY.
BY ADV. SRI.MANOJ RAMASWAMY, SC, PUZHAKKATTIRI GRAMA
PANCHAYAT
BY SRI MANU RAJ K.J- GOVERNMENT PLEADER
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
30.07.2019, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
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JUDGMENT
The petitioner, who is stated to be the owner in possession of 0.0170 Hectares (4 cents) of land in re- survey No.68/5-14 of Puzhakkattiri Village in Perinthalmanna Taluk, covered by Ext.P1 joint release deed No.3997/2018 dated 07.12.2018 of the Sub Registrar Office, Makkaraparambu and Ext.P2 tax receipt dated 26.12.2018, has filed this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking a writ of mandamus commanding the respondents to remove the said property from the draft data-bank, prepared in terms of the provisions under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 and the rules made thereunder. The petitioner has also sought for a writ of mandamus commanding the 1st and 4threspondents to consider and pass orders on Ext.P4 and P5 applications to remove the property
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from the data-bank, within a time frame to be fixed by this Court.
2. By an order of this date in I.A.No.1 of 2019, this Court has directed the Registry to do the needful to interchange Exts.P4 and P5. As per the said order, the application dated 05.02.2019, filed under Section 27A of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 for change of category of land is marked as Ext.P5 and that filed under sub-rule (4D) of Rule 4 of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Rules, 2008 is marked as Ext.P4.
3. Today, when the case is taken up for consideration, it is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the application made by the petitioner under Section 27A of the Act, i.e., Ext.P5, for change of category of the land, has already been rejected by the 1strespondent Revenue Divisional Officer, by an order dated 20.07.2019, on the ground that the property is included as paddy land in the
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published data-bank.
4. As per clause (xviiA) of Section 2 of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008, which was inserted by the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 (Ordinance No.41 of 2017), followed by the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland (Amendment) Act, 2018, i.e, Act 29 of 2018, un- notified land means lands within the area of jurisdiction of the Committee (i.e., the Local Level Monitoring Committee constituted under Section 5 of the Act) which have been included as paddy land or wetland in the basic tax register maintained in Village Offices, but are not notified as paddy land or wetland under sub-section (4) of Section 5 or where data-bank has not been published under the provisions of clause
(i) of sub-section (4) of Section 5, the lands which have already been filled up on the date of commencement of this Act and are not paddy land
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according to the report of the Kerala State Remote Sensing Centre and the Local Level Monitoring Committee or where the report of the Kerala State Remote Sensing Centre is not available, lands which are not paddy land according to the report of the Local Level Monitoring Committee. When the property owned by the petitioner, covered by Ext.P1 joint release deed is included in the data-bank prepared under the provisions of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Rules, 2008, no application under Section 27A of the Act for change of category of that land can be entertained by the 1strespondent Revenue Divisional Officer, since a property included in the data-bank is not an un-notified land, as defined under clause (xviiA) of Section 2 of the said Act. In that view of the matter, the 1strespondent Revenue Divisional Officer cannot be found fault with in rejecting Ext.P5 application made by the petitioner for change of nature of land. If the petitioner has a case that his property
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is wrongly included in the data-bank, it is for the petitioner to invoke the statutory remedy for correction of data-bank, by filing an application for that purpose before the appropriate authority.
5. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that leaving open the right of the petitioner to make an application for correction of entry in the data- bank invoking the relevant provisions under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Rules, this writ petition may be closed.
In such circumstances, this writ petition is closed, without prejudice to the legal right, if any, of the petitioner to approach the competent authority with an application for correction of data-bank.
Sd/-
ANIL K.NARENDRAN, JUDGE
AV/3/8
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APPENDIX
PETITIONER'S/S EXHIBITS:
EXHIBIT P1 THE TRUE COPY OF THE JOINT RELEASE
DEED NO. 3997/2018 OF SRO
MAKKARAPARAMBU DATED 7-12-2018.
EXHIBIT P2 THE TRUE COPY OF THE LAND TAX
RECEIPT ISSUED BY THE PUZHAKKATTIRI
VILLAGE OFFICE DATED 26-12-2018
EXHIBIT P3 THE TRUE COPIES OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS
OF THE PROPERTY
EXHIBIT P4 THE TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION
SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE
THE 1ST RESPONDENT DATED 05-02-2019
EXHIBIT P5 THE TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION
SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE
THE 4TH RESPONDENT DATED 05-02-2019
EXHIBIT P6 THE TRUE COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION
ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT TO THE
2ND RESPONDENT DATED 18-03-2019
EXHIBIT P7 THE TRUE COPY OF THE REPORT FILED BY
THE 2ND RESPONDENT BEFORE THE 1ST
RESPONDENT DATED 03-04-2019
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