Kerala High Court
Ajith D vs The District Collector on 12 September, 2025
Author: C.S.Dias
Bench: C.S.Dias
2025:KER:68058
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.S.DIAS
FRIDAY, THE 12TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2025 / 21ST BHADRA, 1947
WP(C) NO. 20133 OF 2024
PETITIONER/S:
AJITH D,
AGED 38 YEARS
CHEMMINIPARAMBU(H),
PARALI PO PARALI - II,
PALAKKAD TALUK, PALAKKAD,
PIN - 678612
BY ADVS.
SHRI.RAFEEK. V.K.
SMT.NISHNA P.T.
SRI.U.M.HASSAN
RESPONDENT/S:
1 THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR,
COLLECTORATE, CIVIL STATION COMPLEX,
PALAKKAD, KERALA, PIN - 678001
2 THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER,
PARAKKUNNAM, VIDYUT NAGAR, PALAKKAD,
KERALA, PIN - 678001
3 TAHSILDAR,
TALUK OFFICE , CIVIL STATION COMPLEX,
PALAKKAD, PIN - 678001
W.P.(c) No.20133 of 2024
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4 LOCAL LEVEL MONITORING COMMITTE,
REPRESENTED BY ITS CONVENOR,
THEAGRICULTURAL OFFICER, KRISHIBAVAN,
CIVIL STATION , PALAKKAD,
PIN - 678001
OTHER PRESENT:
SR.GP.SMT.VIDYA KURIAKOSE
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR
ADMISSION ON 12.09.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY
DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
W.P.(c) No.20133 of 2024
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2025:KER:68058
C.S.DIAS.,J
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W.P.(c) No.20133 of 2024
---------------------------
Dated this the 12th day of September, 2025
JUDGMENT
The petitioner is the owner in possession of 3.45
Ares land comprised in Re.Sy.No.273/17 in Block No.18 in
Parali-II Village of Palakkad Taluk covered under Ext.P1
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.P3 application in
Form 5, under Rule 4(4d) of the Rules. However, by Ext.P5
order, the authorised officer has summarily rejected the
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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 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
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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.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,
who in turn has relied on the recommendations of the Local
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Level Monitoring Committee (LLMC). The authorised officer
has not rendered 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.
6. In the circumstances mentioned above, I allow
the writ petition in the following manner:
(i) Ext.P5 order is quashed.
(ii) The 2nd respondent/authorised officer is directed
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to reconsider the Ext.P3 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 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
rpk
2025:KER:68058
APPENDIX OF WP(C) 20133/2024
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE TAX RECEIPT DATED 01-04-
Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGE OF THE
PUBLISHED DATA BANK DATED 24-03-2012
PREPARED BY THE 4TH RESPONDENT
Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF THE FORM-5 APPLICATION DATED
11-08-2020
Exhibit P4 TRUE COPY OF THE REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL
OFFICER DATED 11-08-2020
Exhibit P5 TRUE COPY OF THE REJECTED ORDER OF THE 2ND
RESPONDENT DATED 31.10.2022
Exhibit P6 TRUE COPY OF THE SALE DEED DATED 28-05-2020
Exhibit P7 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER OF RDO DATED 18-04-
Exhibit P8 THE TRUE COPY OF THE KSREC REPORT NO.
A/172/2015/KSREC/007765/23 DATED 31-01-2024
