Kerala High Court
Sreekrishna Vilasom N.S.S Karayogam vs The District ... on 18 September, 2025
Author: C.S.Dias
Bench: C.S.Dias
WP(C) NO. 24978 OF 2025
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2025:KER:69688
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.S.DIAS
THURSDAY, THE 18TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2025 / 27TH BHADRA, 1947
WP(C) NO. 24978 OF 2025
PETITIONER/S:
SREEKRISHNA VILASOM N.S.S KARAYOGAM
NO:5380KUDAMUKKU MAMMOODU P.ONARIYAPURAM, KOZHENCHERRY
TALUK PATHANAMTHITTA DISTRICT,REPRESENTED BY ITS
SECRETARYM.R GOPALAKRISHNAN NAIR, AGED 75 YEARS
S/O.RAMAN NAIR, MADOTHIL HOUSE,KUDAMUKKU, MAMMOODU
P.ONARIYAPURAM, KOZHENCHERRY TALUK PATHANAMTHITTA
DISTRICT, PIN - 689513
BY ADV SRI.UNNI SEBASTIAN KAPPEN
RESPONDENT/S:
1 THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR,PATHANAMTHITTA
COLLECTORATE,CHITTOOR PATHANAMTHITTA, PIN - 689645
2 THE DEPUTY COLLECTOR (R.R)
R.D.OFOR KOZHENCHERRY TALUKCOLLECTORATE PATHANAMTHITTA
DISTRICT, PIN - 691523
3 THE PRINCIPAL AGRICULTURAL OFFICER
OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL AGRICULTURAL OFFICER, MINI
CIVIL STATION, PATHANAMTHITTA, PIN - 689645
4 THE TAHSILDAR (L.R)
MINI CIVIL STATION, KOZHENCHERRY, PATHANAMTHITTA, PIN -
689645
5 THE VILLAGE OFFICER
VALLICODE PATHANAMTHITTA DISTRICT, PIN - 689645
6 THE AGRICULTURAL OFFICER
KRISHIBHAVAN, VALLICODE PATHANAMTHITTA DISTRICT, PIN -
689656
WP(C) NO. 24978 OF 2025
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7 LOCAL LEVEL MONITORING COMMITTEE
VALLICODE GRAMA PANCHAYAT, VALLICODE,PATHANAMTHITTA
DISTRICT REP.BY ITS CONVENER., PIN - 689640
8 THE DIRECTOR
KERALA STATE REMOTE SENSING & ENVIRONMENT CENTRE,
‘ C' BLOCK, VIKAS BHAVAN, THIRUVANATHAPURAM, PIN
- 695033
OTHER PRESENT:
GP.SMT.DEEPA V., SC- SRI.VISHNU S. CHEMPAZHANTHIYIL
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
18.09.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
WP(C) NO. 24978 OF 2025
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C.S.DIAS, J.
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WP(C) No. 24978 OF 2025
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Dated this the 18th day of September, 2025
JUDGMENT
The petitioner is the owner in possession of 1.82 Ares
of land comprised in Re-Survey No.376/11-1 in Block No.27 in
Vallicode Village, Kozhencherry Taluk, covered under Ext.P1
possession certificate. The property is 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 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
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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
its suitability for paddy cultivation as on 12.08.2008, which
are the decisive criteria to determine whether the property is
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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 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:
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(i) Ext.P5 order is quashed.
(ii) The 2nd 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 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
rkc/18.09.25
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APPENDIX OF WP(C) 24978/2025
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE POSSESSION CERTIFICATE DATED
21.06.2025
Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE LOCATION SKETCH OF THE
PETITIONER'S PROPERTY ISSUED BY THE VILLAGE
OFFICER DATED 21.06.2025
Exhibit P3 PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE PETITIONER'S PROPERTY
Exhibit P4 TRUE COPY OF THE PETITIONER'S APPLICATION
DATED 21.02.2022
Exhibit P5 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER IN FILE NO.324/2024
DATED 02.12.2024 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT
Exhibit-P6 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO:DCPTA/1888/2025-C4
OF THE 1ST RESPONDENT DATED 27.05.2025
