Kerala High Court
K. V. Shabique,Represented By His Power ... vs The Revenue Divisional Officer, ... on 6 August, 2025
Author: C.S.Dias
Bench: C.S.Dias
WP(C) NO. 28265 OF 2024
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2025:KER:58892
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.S.DIAS
WEDNESDAY, THE 6TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025 / 15TH SRAVANA, 1947
WP(C) NO. 28265 OF 2024
PETITIONER/S:
K. V. SHABIQUE,REPRESENTED BY HIS POWER OF ATTORNEY
HOLDER, K.V. ABOO HAJI
AGED 36 YEARS
S/O. K.V. ABOO HAJI, RESIDING AT KALATHINGAL PURAYIL
HOUSE, P.O. MANIPURAM, VIA KODUVALLY, KOZHIKODE,
REPRESENTED BY HIS POWER OF ATTORNEY HOLDER, K.V. ABOO
HAJI, AGED 72 YEARS, S/O ABDULLA, RESIDING AT
KALATHINGAL PURAYIL HOUSE,P.O. MANIPURAM, VIA
KODUVALLY, KOZHIKODE, PIN - 673572
BY ADVS.
SHRI.V.V.SURENDRAN
SRI.P.A.HARISH
SMT.DONA PAUL
RESPONDENT/S:
1 THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, KOZHIKODE,
OFFICE OF THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, COLLECTORATE,
PO. CIVIL STATION, KOZHIKODE, PIN - 673020
2 THE VILLAGE OFFICER, KODUVALLY VILLAGE,
OFFICE OF THE VILLAGE OFFICER, PO. KODUVALLY KOZHIKODE,
PIN - 673572
3 THE AGRICULTURAL OFFICER,
OFFICE OF THE AGRICULTURAL OFFICER,
KODUVALLY,KRISHIBHAVAN, KODUVALLY, KOZHIKODE, PIN -
673572
4 THE SECRETARY, KODUVALLY MUNICIPALITY,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, KODUVALLY MUNICIPALITY, P.O.
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KODUVALLY, KOZHIKODE, PIN - 673572
5 THE KODUVALLY MUNICIPALITY,
REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY,MUNICIPALITY BUILDING,
KODUVALLY KOZHIKODE, PIN - 673572
OTHER PRESENT:
SR,GP.SMT.PREETHA K.K., SC-SRI.MUHAMMED SHAFI M
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
06.08.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
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C.S.DIAS, J.
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WP(C) No.28265 OF 2024
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Dated this the 6th day of August, 2025
JUDGMENT
The petitioner is the owner in possession of 4.047 Ares
of land comprised in Re-Survey No.35/2 in Koduvally Village,
Kozhikode Taluk, covered under Ext.P2 land tax receipt. The
property is unsuitable for paddy cultivation. Nevertheless, the
respondents have erroneously classified the property as
'paddy land' and included it in the data bank maintained under
the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act,
2008, and the Rules framed thereunder ('Act' and 'Rules', for
brevity). To exclude the property from the data bank, the
petitioner had submitted a Form 5 application under Rule
4(4d) of the Rules. However, by Ext.P8 order, the authorised
officer has summarily rejected the application without
conducting a personal inspection. In fact based on the
petitioner's application, Ext.P6 report was received from the
Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre. But,
the said report was not considered by the authorised officer
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while passing Ext.P8 order. Ext.P8 order is devoid of any
independent finding regarding the nature and character of
the land as it existed on 12.08.2008 -- the date the Act came
into force. The impugned order, therefore, is arbitrary and
unsustainable in law and liable to be quashed.
2. I have heard the learned Counsel for the petitioner and
the learned Government Pleader.
3. The petitioner's principal contention is that the applied
property is not a cultivable paddy field but is a converted plot.
Nonetheless, the property has been incorrectly included in the
data bank. Despite filing the Form 5 application, the
authorised officer has rejected the same without proper
consideration or application of mind.
4. It is now well-settled by a catena of judgments of this
Court -- including the decisions 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] -- that the authorised officer is
obliged to assess the nature, lie and character of the land and
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its suitability for paddy cultivation as on 12.08.2008, which
are the decisive criteria to determine whether the property is
to be excluded from the data bank.
5. A reading of Ext.P8 order reveals that the authorised
officer has failed to comply with the statutory requirements.
There is no indication in the order that the authorised officer
has personally inspected the property or adverted to Ext.P6
KSREC report. Instead, the authorised officer has merely
acted upon the reports of the Agricultural Officer and Village
Officer without rendering any independent finding regarding
the nature and character of the land as on the relevant date.
There is also no finding whether the exclusion of the property
would prejudicially affect the surrounding paddy fields. In
light of the above findings, I hold that the impugned order was
passed in contravention of the statutory mandate and the law
laid down by this Court. Thus, the impugned order is vitiated
due to errors of law and non-application of mind, and is liable
to be quashed. Consequently, the authorised officer is to be
directed to reconsider the Form 5 application as per the
procedure prescribed under the law.
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In the circumstances mentioned above, I allow the writ
petition in the following manner:
(i) Ext.P8 order is quashed.
(ii) The 1st respondent/authorised officer is directed to
reconsider the Form 5 application, in accordance
with the law, by either conducting a personal
inspection of the property or considering Ext.P6
report.
(iii) The above exercise shall be completed within two
months from the date of production of a copy of this
judgment by the petitioner.
The writ petition is ordered accordingly.
sd/-
C.S.DIAS, JUDGE
rkc/06.08.25
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APPENDIX OF WP(C) 28265/2024
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
Exhibit P1 A TRUE COPY OF THE GIFT DEED DATED 07.08.2014
REGISTERED AS DOCUMENT NO. 2811/1/2014 OF SRO
KODUVALLY
Exhibit P2 A TRUE COPY OF THE BASIC TAX RECEIPT NO.
KL11040604078/2024 DATED 07.05.2024 ISSUED BY
THE 2ND RESPONDENT IN FAVOUR OF THE
PETITIONER
Exhibit P3 A TRUE COPY OF THE BUILDING PERMIT DATED
25.08.2014 ISSUED BY THE KODUVALLY PANCHAYATH
IN FAVOUR OF THE PETITIONER
Exhibit P4 A TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER OF ASSESSMENT NO.
BT2-5481/20 DATED 08.10.2021 BY THE TAHSILDAR
THAMARASSERY WITH RESPECT TO THE BUILDING
COVERED UNDER EXT. P3 PERMIT
Exhibit P5 A TRUE COPY OF THE PROPERTY TAX RECEIPT DATED
22.01.2016 ISSUED BY THE 4TH RESPONDENT
Exhibit P6 A TRUE COPY OF THE REPORT OF THE KERALA STATE
REMOTE SENSING AND ENVIRONMENT CENTRE DATED
28.11.2022
Exhibit P7 A TRUE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE BUILDING CONSTRUCTED
BY THE PETITIONER IN THE PROPERTY COVERED
UNDER EXT. P1
Exhibit P8 A TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER OF THE 1ST
RESPONDENT DATED 23.11.2023
Exhibit P9 A TRUE COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION DATED
12.03.2024 ISSUED BY THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR,
KOZHIKODE TO THE PETITIONER
