Kerala High Court
Rincy Avarachan vs Revenue Divisional Officer (Sub ... on 8 September, 2025
Author: C.S.Dias
Bench: C.S.Dias
WP(C) NO. 25901 OF 2024 1
2025:KER:66388
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.S.DIAS
MONDAY, THE 8TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2025 / 17TH BHADRA, 1947
WP(C) NO. 25901 OF 2024
PETITIONER:
RINCY AVARACHAN,
AGED 36 YEARS
D/O. ABRAHAM, PERUMALIL HOUSE, PATTIKKAD, PATTIKKAD
P.O., THRISSUR, PIN - 680652
BY ADVS. SRI.P.R.VENKATESH
SMT.ASHA P.KURIAKOSE
SMT.LAKSHMI MEENAKSHI P.R.
RESPONDENTS:
1 REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER (SUB COLLECTOR),
OFFICE OF THE RDO, CIVIL STATION, AYYANTHOLE,
THRISSUR, PIN - 680003
2 TAHSILDAR,
TALUK OFFICE,G6J9+424, TOWN HALL, W PALACE RD, OPP.
THRISSUR, CHEMBUKKAV, THRISSUR, KERALA, PIN - 680020
3 AGRICULTURAL OFFICER,
KRISHIBHAVAN, PANANCHERY,THRISSUR, PIN - 680652
4 LOCAL LEVEL MONITORING COMMITTEE,
PANANCHERY, THRISSUR REPRESENTED BY ITS CONVENER,
AGRICULTURAL OFFICER, KRISHIBHAVAN, PANANCHERY,
PIN - 680652
BY SMT.VIDYA KURIAKOSE, SR.GP
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION
ON 08.09.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE
FOLLOWING:
WP(C) NO. 25901 OF 2024 2
2025:KER:66388
JUDGMENT
Dated this the 08th day of September, 2025
The petitioner is the owner in possession of 2.83
Ares of land comprised in Re-Survey No.267/11-1 in Block
No.78 in Pananchery Village, Thrissur Taluk, covered
under Ext.P2 land tax receipt. 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 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 either
conducting a personal inspection of the land or calling for
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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 Senior 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
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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.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 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
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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 circumstances mentioned above, I allow the
writ petition in the following manner:
(i) Ext.P5 order is quashed.
(ii) The 1st respondent/authorised officer is directed
to reconsider Ext.P4 application, 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
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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
NAB
2025:KER:66388
APPENDIX OF WP(C) 25901/2024
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT P1 TRUE COPY OF REGISTERED JENMOM ASSIGNMENT
DEED NO. 769/2019 DATED 26.04.2019 OF SRO
OLLUKARA
EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF TAX RECEIPT DATED 22.2.2023
EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF RELEVANT EXTRACT OF THE
NOTIFICATION OF DATA BANK DATED 25.01.2021
IN THE PANANCHERY GRAMA PANCHAYAT
EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF FORM 5 APPLICATION DATED
22.02.2023
EXHIBIT P5 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 21.06.2024 OF
THE RDO (SUB COLLECTOR)
EXHIBIT P6 TRUE COPY OF ORDER OF THE RDO DATED
14.01.2020
EXHIBIT P7 TRUE COPY OF ORDER OF THE RDO DATED
19.03.2020
EXHIBIT P8 TRUE COPY OF ORDER OF THE RDO DATED
10.02.2021
EXHIBIT P9 TRUE COPY OF ORDER OF THE RDO DATED
30.06.2022
EXHIBIT P10 TRUE COPY OF COMMUNICATION DATED
22.12.2023 FROM THE TAHSILDAR TO THE
VILLAGE OFFICER
