Kerala High Court
Abdulsalam K.P vs The Tahsildar on 1 October, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN
FRIDAY, THE 1ST DAY OF OCTOBER 2021 / 9TH ASWINA, 1943
WP(C) NO. 7575 OF 2020
PETITIONER:
ABDULSALAM K.P.
S/O.MUHAMMED HAJI, PADIPPURAKKAL HOUSE, MORAYUR P.O.,
KONDOTTY TALUK, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT-673 642.
BY ADV K.VIDYASAGAR
RESPONDENTS:
1 THE TAHSILDAR
KONDOTTY TALUK, TALUK OFFICE, KONDOTTY-673 638.
2 THE VILLAGE OFFICER, VAZHAYOOR VILLAGE,
VAZHAYOOR P.O., MALAPPURAM DISTRICT-673 633.
SRI RAJEEV JYOTHIS GEORGE -GP
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
01.10.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
WP(C) NO. 7575 OF 2020
2
JUDGMENT
The petitioner says that he purchased 3 Acres and 75
cents of land, comprised of in Survey No.212,141,
(Re.Sy.No.58/5-1, 59/2-1 of the Vazhayur Village, through
Ext.P1 and that he subsequently sold 1 Acre 53 cents out of the
same, to a person by name Sri.Basheer Haji through Ext.P2. He
says that after the sale, Sri.Basheer Haji obtained the Transfer
of Registry of the said property in his name, which is evident
from Ext.P3 Encumbrance Certificate. The petitioner then
points out that, as is clear from Ext.P3, his original extent has
been shown to be 3 Acres 75 cents, out of which 1 Acre 53
cents has been shown in the name of Sri.Basheer Haji.
2. The petitioner says that even though he has been in
continuous possession of the larger property ever since Ext.P1
and of the balance after Ext.P2 sale, the Village Officer is
refusing to accept tax from him saying that the Thandaper
Register with respect to it is in the name of some other
persons.
3. The petitioner says that the afore stand of the Village
Officer is wholly incorrect because, even as per Ext.P7 report -
which the said Authority settled on 26.07.2019, the property
WP(C) NO. 7575 OF 2020
has been found to be in his possession and that this becomes
indubitable because he has been issued Possession Certificates
in the years 2015, 2017 and 2018, which have been produced
as Exts.P9, P10 and P11 respectively.
4. The petitioner says that he therefore, approached the
Tahsildar, who then issued Ext.P6 order asking the Village
Officer to cause an inspection and then permit him to remit tax
over the property in question, since the Thandaper account in
relation to it, continues to be in his name. The petitioner alleges
that inspite of Ext.P6, no action has been taken by the Village
Officer.
5. I have heard Sri.K.Vidyasagar, learned counsel for the
petitioner and Sri.Rajeev Jyothish George, learned Government
Pleader.
6. The learned Government Pleader conceded that no
action has been taken by the Village Officer pursuant to Ext.P6,
explaining that this is because, when he inspected the property,
he found that the same was in the possession of several
persons, which have been averred in the statement filed before
this Court on 03.08.2021. He submitted that as is limpid from
paragraphs 5 and 6 of the said Statement, in the resurvey
WP(C) NO. 7575 OF 2020
records as also the Basic Tax Register (BTR), the land is shown
to be in the name of a certain late Sankaran Kutty Nair and that
his legal heirs are now remitting tax. He prayed that, therefore,
this writ petition be dismissed.
7. The afore submissions of the learned Government
Pleader certainly creates some confusion because the petitioner
has produced documents to show that he is in possession of the
property; while the Village Officer takes the stand that, as per
the resurvey records, the property belongs to somebody else.
Obviously therefore, the documents relied upon by the persons
who are now alleged to be in possession of the property, will
require to be verified and then evaluated, on the basis of the
original survey and resurvey records, which alone can dispel the
confusion in the matter effectively. In fact, this is what the
Tahsildar has instructed the second respondent - Village Officer
to do.
8. In the afore circumstances, I allow this writ petition and
direct the second respondent - Village Officer, to act as per the
instructions given to him by the Tahsildar, after affording
necessary opportunity of being heard to the petitioner, as also
any other person who are interested; thus culminating in an
WP(C) NO. 7575 OF 2020
appropriate order on his request for permission to remit land
tax with respect to the property claimed by him under Ext.P1,
as expeditiously as is possible, but not later than three months
from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment.
Needless to say, depending upon the decision to be taken
by the Village Officer, the petitioner will be allowed to remit
land tax without any avoidable delay thereafter.
Sd/- DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN
JUDGE
stu
WP(C) NO. 7575 OF 2020
APPENDIX OF WP(C) 7575/2020
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT P1 TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFIED COPY OF THE SALE
DEED NO.1145/1999 SRO, KONDOTTY DATED
30.03.1999.
EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF THE SALE DEED NO.4302/2001 SRO,
KONDOTTY DATED 12.12.2001 EXECUTED BY THE
PETITIONER.
EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE OF ENCUMBRANCE
ON PROPERTY DATED 03.02.2020 WITH RESPECT TO
THE PROPERTY IN THE NAME OF THE PETITIONER
FROM 01.01.1999 TO 28.01.2020.
EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF THE LAND TAX RECEIPT DATED
07.06.2018 IN THE NAME OF THE PETITIONER FOR
THE PERIOD OF 2018-2019 WITH RESPECT TO THE
PROPERTY HAVING TOTAL EXTENT OF 67.58 ARES
IN SURVEY NOS.58/5-1, 59/2-1 IN VAZHAYUR
VILLAGE, KONDOTTY TALUK.
EXHIBIT P5 TRUE COPY OF THE LAND TAX RECEIPT DATED
09.05.2019 FOR THE PERIOD OF 2019-2020 WITH
RESPECT TO THE PROPERTY HAVING AN EXTENT OF
30.35 ARES IN SURVEY NO.59/2-1 IN VAZHAYUR
VILLAGE, KONDOTTY TALUK.
EXHIBIT P6 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 30.11.2019
ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT TO THE 2ND
RESPONDENT.
Exhibit P7 TRUE COPY OF THE REPORT DATED 26/07/2019
SUBMITTED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT TO THE 1ST
RESPONDENT.
Exhibit P8 TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 20/08/2019
SENT BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT TO THE 2ND
RESPONDENT.
WP(C) NO. 7575 OF 2020
Exhibit P9 TRUE COPY OF THE POSSESSION CERTIFICATE
DATED 04/03/2015 ISSUED BY THE 2ND
RESPONDENT TO THE PETITIONER WITH RESPECT TO
THE PROPERTY OF AN EXTENT OF 0.3723 HECTARES
(37.23 ARES) IN RE-SURVEY BLOCK NO.6 IN RE-
SURVEY NO.58/5 OF VAZHAYOOR VILLAGE.
Exhibit P10 TRUE COPY OF THE POSSESSION CERTIFICATE
DATED 10/04/2017 ISSUED BY THE 2ND
RESPONDENT TO THE PETITIONER WITH RESPECT TO
THE PROPERTY OF AN EXTENT OF 0.3723 HECTARES
(37.23 ARES) IN RE-SURVEY BLOCK NO.6 IN RE-
SURVEY NO.58/5 OF VAZHAYOOR VILLAGE.
Exhibit P11 TRUE COPY OF THE POSSESSION CERTIFICATE
DATED 06/09/2018 WITH RESPECT TO THE
PROPERTY IN RE-SURVEY NUMBERS 58/5-1, 59/2-1
IN BLOCK NO.6 OF VAZHAYOOR VILLAGE.
