Kerala High Court
Abdul Gafoor vs The District Collector on 8 October, 2025
Author: C.S.Dias
Bench: C.S.Dias
2025:KER:74322
WP(C) NO. 11356 OF 2025
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.S.DIAS
WEDNESDAY, THE 8TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2025 / 16TH ASWINA, 1947
WP(C) NO. 11356 OF 2025
PETITIONER/S:
ABDUL GAFOOR,
AGED 52 YEARS
S/O.M.AVARANKUTTY, PULIKKOTTUKALAM
HOUSE,NELIYAMKUNNUM, ALATHUR, PALAKKAD, PIN -
678541
BY ADV SRI.V.A.JOHNSON (VARIKKAPPALLIL)
RESPONDENT/S:
1 THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR,
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR,CIVIL STATION,
PALAKKAD, PIN - 678001
2 REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER,
OFFICE OF THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICE,CIVIL
STATION, PALAKKAD, PIN - 678001
3 THE DEPUTY COLLECTOR (L.A),
R.D.O,OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY COLLECTOR (L.A),CIVIL
STATION, PALAKKAD, PIN - 678001
4 THE PRINCIPAL AGRICULTURAL OFFICER,
OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL AGRICULTURAL OFFICER,
CIVIL STATION, PALAKKAD, PIN - 678001
5 THE VILLAGE OFFICER,
ALATHUR VILLAGE, ALATHUR,ALATHUR TALUK, PALAKKAD,
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WP(C) NO. 11356 OF 2025
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PIN - 678546
6 THE AGRICULTURAL OFFICER,
KRISHIBHAVAN, ALATHUR.P.O,ALATHUR, PALAKKAD, PIN -
678546
7 LOCAL LEVEL MONITORING COMMITTEE,
ALATHUR GRAMA PANCHAYAT, ALATHUR.P.O, ALATHUR
TALUK, PALAKKAD, REP.BY ITS CONVENER, PIN - 678546
8 THE DIRECTOR,
KERALA STATE REMOTE SENSING & ENVIRONMENT CENTRE,
‘C' BLOCK, VIKAS BHAVAN,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
PIN - 695033
SMT.JESSY S.SALIM, GP
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR FINAL
HEARING ON 08.10.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED
THE FOLLOWING:
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WP(C) NO. 11356 OF 2025
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C.S.DIAS, J.
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W.P.(C) No. 11356 of 2025
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Dated this the 8th day of October, 2025
JUDGMENT
The petitioner is the owner in possession of
0.1309 hectares of land comprised in Re-survey No.
69/30 in Block No.27 in Alathur Village in Alathur Taluk,
covered under Ext.P1 possession certificate. The
property is a converted land and 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 12 Ares and 95
sq.metres of the property from the data bank, the
petitioner had submitted Ext.P5 application in Form 5,
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WP(C) NO. 11356 OF 2025
under Rule 4(4d) of the Rules. However, by Ext.P6
order, the authorised officer has summarily rejected the
application without either conducting a personal
inspection of the land or calling for the satellite pictures
as mandated under Rule 4(4f) of the Rules.
Furthermore, the 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
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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 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.P6 order reveals that the
authorised officer has failed to comply with the
statutory requirements. There is no indication in the
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order that the authorised officer has personally
inspected the property or called for the satellite
pictures as mandated under Rule 4(4f) of the Rules.
Instead, the authorised officer has merely acted upon
the report of the Agricultural 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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WP(C) NO. 11356 OF 2025
In the circumstances mentioned above, I allow the
writ petition in the following manner:
(i) Ext.P6 order is quashed.
(ii) The 2nd respondent/authorised officer is directed to
reconsider the Form 5, in accordance with the law,
by either conducting a personal inspection of the
property or calling for the satellite pictures as
provided under Rule 4(4f) of the Rules, at the cost
of the petitioner.
(iii) If satellite pictures are called for, the application
shall be disposed of within three months from the
date of receipt of such pictures. On the other hand,
if the authorised officer opts to inspect the
property personally, the application shall be
disposed of within two months from the date of
production of a copy of this judgment by the
petitioner.
The writ petition is thus ordered accordingly.
Sd/-
C.S.DIAS, JUDGE
dkr
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APPENDIX OF WP(C) 11356/2025
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE POSSESSION CERTIFICATE
DATED 06.01.2023 ISSUED FROM THE OFFICE
OF THE 5TH RESPONDENT
Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE LOCATION SKETCH OF
PETITIONER'S PROPERTY ISSUED BY 6TH
RESPONDENT
Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGE OF THE
DATA BANK OF THE PETITIONER'S PROPERTY
Exhibit P4 PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PETITIONER'S PROPERTY
Exhibit P5 TRUE COPY OF THE FORM.5 APPLICATION
SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE
2ND RESPONDENT DATED 07.01.2023
Exhibit P6 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER IN FILE
NO.327/2025 DATED 14.02.2025 ISSUED BY
THE 2ND RESPONDENT
