M.V. Nishakumari vs Meenangadi Grama Panchayat
2023 Latest Caselaw 11176 Ker

            IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
                                PRESENT
        THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN
 FRIDAY, THE 27TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2023 / 5TH KARTHIKA, 1945
                      WP(C) NO.32299 OF 2023
PETITIONER:

            M.V.NISHAKUMARI, AGED 61 YEARS
            W/O.DEEPAK BALAKRISHNAN,ANANTHA MANDIRAM,
            PULIYARMALA, KALPETTA, WAYNAD, PIN - 673122
            BY ADVS.
            ENOCH DAVID SIMON JOEL
            S.SREEDEV
            RONY JOSE
            LEO LUKOSE
            KAROL MATHEWS SEBASTIAN ALENCHERRY
            DERICK MATHAI SAJI
            KARAN SCARIA ABRAHAM


RESPONDENTS:

    1       MEENANGADI GRAMA PANCHAYAT
            MEENANGADI P.O., WAYANAD,
            REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, PIN - 673591
    2       SECRETARY
            MEENANGADI GRAMA PANCHAYAT, MEENANGADI P.O.,
            WAYANAD, PIN - 673591
            BY SRI.JOHN JOSEPH VETTIKAD, SC

     THIS     WRIT   PETITION    (CIVIL)     HAVING    COME    UP    FOR
ADMISSION     ON   27.10.2023,    THE     COURT   ON   THE    SAME   DAY
DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
 WP(C) NO.32299 OF 2023                     2


                                 JUDGMENT

The petitioner is the owner in possession of

4.6996 of land in resurvey No.217/1 of Block No.19

of Krishnagiri Village in Sultan Bathery Taluk in

Wayanad District, obtained by virtue of partition

deed No.1639/1972 of Sultan Bathery SRO. The

grievance of the petitioner is that the

application of the petitioner for building permit

for construction of a residential house has been

rejected by the 2nd respondent by Ext.P3 for the

reason that the property is one that was exempted

as a plantation under the Kerala Land Reforms Act

[for brevity, 'the KLR Act']. The petitioner

challenges Ext.P3 contending that there is no

prohibition under the KLR Act for using a land

exempted, for any other purpose.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the

petitioner as well as the learned Standing Counsel

appearing for the respondents.

3. The question whether a land exempted under

the provisions of the Kerala Land Reforms Act can

be used for purposes other than for which

exemption was availed came up for consideration

before a Full Bench of this Court in Mathew

K.Jacob and another v. District Environmental

Impact Assessment Authority [2018 (5) KHC 487].

This Court held that the provisions of the Kerala

Land Reforms Act will have to be given effect to

without affecting the public interest intended to

be protected by conferring exemption to various

categories of land mentioned in Section 81.

4. The issue was again considered by this

Court in Kinallur Rock Sand (M/s.) v. State of

Kerala and others [2021 (2) KLT 351]. This Court

held that there is no prohibition in using an

exempted land under the Kerala Land Reforms Act

for a different purpose and such conditions cannot

be a reason to decline permission for using the

land for a different purpose.

5. In the light of the aforesaid judgments, I

set aside Ext.P3 communication issued by the 2 nd

respondent. There will be a direction to the 2nd

respondent to consider the application of the

petitioner for building permit in accordance with

law, as expeditiously as possible, at any rate,

within a period of one month from the date of

receipt of a certified copy of this judgment, if

the application is otherwise in order.

The writ petition is disposed of.

Sd/-

MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN JUDGE

sp/27/10/2023

APPENDIX

PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS:-

EXHIBIT P1 TRUE COPY OF THE POSSESSION CERTIFICATE DATED 15.06.2023 ISSUED BY THE VILLAGE OFFICER, KRISHNAGIRI VILLAGE EXHIBIT P1(A) TRUE COPY OF THE TAX RECEIPT DATED 26.05.2023 ISSUED BY THE VILLAGE OFFICER, KRISHNAGIRI VILLAGE EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FOR BUILDING PERMIT DATED 26.06.2023 SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT EXHIBIT P2(A) TRUE COPY OF THE RECEIPT DATED 27.06.2023 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 30.08.2023 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT TO THE PETITIONER EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 14.07.2022 IN WP(C) NO.17691/2022 ON THE FILES OF THIS HON'BLE COURT .

EXHIBIT P4(A) TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 24.01.2023 IN WP(C) NO.42004/2022 ON THE FILES OF THIS HON'BLE COURT EXHIBIT P4(B) TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 13.04.2023 IN WP(C) NO.12692/2023 ON THE FILES OF THIS HON'BLE COURT