Kerala High Court
Bobby Joseph vs The Revenue Divisional Officer on 13 August, 2025
Author: C.S.Dias
Bench: C.S.Dias
2025:KER:60855
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.S.DIAS
WEDNESDAY, THE 13TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025 / 22ND SRAVANA, 1947
WP(C) NO. 43727 OF 2024
PETITIONER:
BOBBY JOSEPH,
AGED 49 YEARS
S/O. JOSEPH, PURAPPANTHANAM HOUSE,
RAMAPURAM BAZAR P.O., PALA,
KOTTAYAM, PIN - 686576
BY ADVS.
SHRI.GEORGE SEBASTIAN
SHRI.RAJEEV V.K.
RESPONDENTS:
1 THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER,
REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICE,1ST FLOOR,
CIVIL STATION RD, PALA,
KOTTAYAM, PIN - 686575
2 THE DEPUTY COLLECTOR ( PUNJA),
(AUTHORISED OFFICER),
COLLECTORATE KOTTAYAM, KOTTAYAM, PIN - 686002
3 THE LOCAL LEVEL MONITORING COMMITTEE OF
KAROORGRAMA PANCHAYATH,
REPRESENTED BY ITS CONVENER,
THE AGRICULTURAL OFFICER, KRISHIBHAVAN,
VALAVOOR, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT, PIN - 686635
4 THE AGRICULTURAL OFFICER (KAROOR),
KRISHIBHAVAN, VALAVOOR,
KOTTAYAM DISTRICT, PIN - 686635
WP(C) NO.43727 OF 2024 2
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5 THE VILLAGE OFFICER,
VALLICHIRA ,THE VILLAGE OFFICE,
PALA ROAD, MARANGATTUPILLY,
VALLICHIRA, KOTTAYAM, PIN - 686574
6 KERALA STATE REMOTE SENSING AND ENVIRONMENT
CENTRE(KSREC),
REP. BY ITS DIRECTOR, 1ST FLOOR,
VIKAS BHAVAN, NEAR LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY,
UNIVERSITY OF KERALA SENATE HOUSE CAMPUS,
PMG, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PIN - 695033
SENIOR GOVERNMENT PLEADER- SMT.PREETHA K.K.,
STANDING COUNSEL- SRI.VISHNU S. CHEMPAZHANTHIYIL
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION
ON 13.08.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE
FOLLOWING:
WP(C) NO.43727 OF 2024 3
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JUDGMENT
Dated this the 13th day of August, 2025
The petitioner is the owner in possession of
12.30 Ares of land comprised in Re-Survey No. 440/8 of
Vallichira Village, Meenachil Taluk. The property is a
converted plot and unsuitable for paddy cultivation.
Nevertheless, the respondents have erroneously
classified the property as 'wetland' 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 Ext.P4 application in
Form 5 under Rule 4(4d) of the Rules. However, by
Ext.P5 order, the authorised officer has summarily
rejected the application without directly inspecting the
property. Even though the petitioner had remitted the
prescribed fee, as evidenced by Ext. P3 receipt, to call
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for the satellite images as envisaged under Rule 4(4f)
of the Rules, the authorised officer did not wait the
satellite pictures. Ext. P5 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 legally unsustainable.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the
petitioner and the learned Government Pleader.
3. The principal contention of the petitioner is that
the subject property is not a cultivable paddy field but a
converted plot. Nonetheless, the property has been
incorrectly included in the data bank. Despite filing an
application in Form 5 seeking its exclusion, the same has
been rejected without proper consideration or
application of mind.
4. It is now well-settled by a catena of judgments of
this Court -- including Muraleedharan Nair R v.
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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 competent
authority is obliged to assess the nature, lie and
character of the land and its suitability for paddy
cultivation as on 12.08.2008, which are the decisive
criteria to determine whether the property merits
exclusion from the data bank.
5. A reading of Ext.P5 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 directly inspected the property.
Instead, the authorised officer merely acted upon the
reports of the Agricultural Officer and the Village Officer,
without rendering any independent finding regarding
the nature and character of the land as on the relevant
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date. Although the petitioner had submitted the
prescribed fee to call the satellite pictures, the same was
not considered by the authorised office. 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.
In the aforesaid circumstances, I allow the writ
petition in the following manner:
i. Ext.P5 order is quashed.
ii. The first respondent/authorised officer is directed
to reconsider Ext.P4 application in accordance with law,
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as expeditiously as possible within 90 days from the date
of production of a copy of this judgment. It would be up
to the authorised officer to either directly inspect the
property or consider the satellite pictures, which have
been called for by the Agricultural Officer.
The writ petition is thus ordered accordingly.
Sd/-
C.S.DIAS, JUDGE
mtk/13.08.2025
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APPENDIX OF WP(C) 43727/2024
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT P1 A TRUE COPY OF THEPOSSESSION CERTIFICATE
DATED 26.04.2023 ISSUED FROM THE OFFICE
OF THE 5TH RESPONDENT
EXHIBIT P2 A TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION SUBMITTED
BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 1ST
RESPONDENT
EXHIBIT P3 A TRUE COPY OF THE DEMAND DRAFT DATED
23.08.2017 IN FAVOUR OF THE 6TH
RESPONDENT
EXHIBIT P4 A TRUE COPY OF THE ONLINE APPLICATION
DATED 28.04.2023 SUBMITTED BY THE
PETITIONER UNDER FORM 5
EXHIBIT P5 A TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 19.06.2024
BEARING FILE NUMBER 1304/2024 PASSED BY
THE 1ST RESPONDENT
