K.P.SIVASANKARAN NAIR v. STATE OF KERALA
Case at a glance
Outcome
Disposed of
The Writ Petition is disposed of with the above
Provisions considered
Key paragraphs
- Para 22. Petitioner is the owner of 5 cents of property in survey No.16/1 of Enanalloor Village, Muvattupuzha Taluk. The said property was assigned to the petitioner by land assignment order bearing No.LA 68/70 dated 26.02.1970. Petitioner contends that the said patta issued in favour of…
- Para 44. In view of the above facts and circumstances, I WP(C)NO.41910/2023 6 am of the opinion that the third respondent shall take necessary steps to issue duplicate patta/certificate of ownership in respect of 5 cents of property in survey No.16/1 of Enanalloor Village assigned as…
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE VIJU ABRAHAM WEDNESDAY, THE 10TH DAY OF JANUARY 2024 / 20TH POUSHA, 1945 WP(C) NO. 41910 OF 2023 PETITIONER: K.P.SIVASANKARAN NAIR AGED 81 YEARS RESIDING AT PAYYAPPILLIL HOUSE, ENANELLOOR P.O., ANCHELPETTI, MUVATTUPUZHA, ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, PIN - 686673 BY ADV PAULSON THOMAS RESPONDENTS: 1 2 3 4 5 STATE OF KERALA SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, REVENUE DEPARTMENT , SECRETARIAT ,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PIN - 695001 DISTRICT COLLECOTER ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, CIVIL STATION, KAKKANAD, PIN - 682030 THAHASILDHAR MUVATTUPUZHA, TALUK OFFICE, MINI CIVIL STATION, MUVATTUPUZHA, MUDAVOOR P.O, PIN - 686669 REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER O/O THE RDO, MINI CIVIL STATION, PAZHAPPALLY, MUDAVOOR P.O, MUVATTUPUZHA, PIN - 686669 VILLAGE OFFICER ENANELLOOR VILLAGE, ENANELLOOR P.O., MUVATTUPUZHA, PIN - 686673 BY ADV.DEEPANARAYANAN, SR.GOVERNMENT PLEADER THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
10.01.2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: WP(C)NO.41910/2023 2 JUDGMENT Dated this the 10th day of January, 2024 Petitioner has approached this Court seeking a direction to the respondents to issue duplicate patta/certificate of ownership in respect of 5 cents of property in survey No.16/1 of Enanalloor Village assigned as per L.A.No.68/70 and for a direction to the respondents to permit the petitioner to pay land tax in respect of the said property.
Petitioner is the owner of 5 cents of property in survey No.16/1 of Enanalloor Village, Muvattupuzha Taluk. The said property was assigned to the petitioner by land assignment order bearing No.LA 68/70 dated 26.02.1970. Petitioner contends that the said patta issued in favour of the petitioner has been lost from his possession. Petitioner under the Right to Information Act obtained the file relating to the proceedings of L.A.No.68/70 which contain the application of the petitioner, enquiry report, public notice, challan receipt, decision of the Land Assignment Committee, assignment order etc., which are produced in this Writ Petition as Exts.P1 to P5. Petitioner submits that pursuant WP(C)NO.41910/2023 3 to Ext.P5 provisional order of assignment, the petitioner remitted necessary fee, land value, arrears and charges etc. as is evident from Ext.P6 challan receipt dated 05.03.1970. Petitioner has completed the entire formalities for issuance of patta and the title has been transferred to him on payment of fee as provided in Rule 9 sub clause (6A) of the Kerala Land Assignment Rules, 1964.
Subsequently, final patta was issued. Petitioner has also obtained Ext.P8 extract of the register kept in the Taluk Office, Muvattupuzha, containing the entries in respect of pattayam issued which also mention about the patta issued in the name of the petitioner included as entry No.68. Since final patta issued to the petitioner has been lost, petitioner could not remit the land tax. Petitioner submitted Ext.P9 application for mutation of the land on the strength of the land assignment proceedings available in the Village Office. The said application was forwarded by the Village Officer with his report to the Tahsildar, Muvattupuzha, as per Ext.P10. The Taluk Surveyor has measured the property and the Village Officer forwarded the said report also on 30.11.2022 along with Ext.P11 letter dated 26.12.2022. In the report of the WP(C)NO.41910/2023 4 surveyor, it is stated that the assigned land is adjacent to the petitioner's residential house in survey No.15/16 and that the same is within the boundaries of the sketch in the patta and that the said extent of 5 cents of land is in the possession of the petitioner.
In spite of the same, the third respondent is insisting for production of original patta and in the absence of the original patta the petitioner cannot pay the land tax. Petitioner submits that in similar circumstances this Court has interfered and has issued Ext.P12 judgment dated 29.01.2020, wherein this Court has held that after enquiry into the genuineness of the assignment order and regarding the possession of the land and the revenue records and if it is found that the assignment order is genuine based on the enquiry to be conducted, files shall be reconstructed and patta should be issued. Paragraphs 5 and 6 of the said judgment read as follows : “5. In regard to the genuineness of the assignment order, necessary enquiry has to be conducted as to the possession of the land. So also revenue records have to be verified. If there are revenue records to evidence that, 63 cents was owned by Mathew Joseph without further enquiry, the file can be reconstructed and patta can be issued.
Therefore, necessary decision shall be taken by the Tahsildar in the light of above observation within a period of two WP(C)NO.41910/2023 5 months. If it is found there are reasons to believe that, the assignment order is genuine based on the enquiry to be conducted as above, files shall be reconstructed and certified copy of patta shall be issued to the petitioner.”
Learned Government Pleader, upon instructions, submitted that it is only due to the fact that the original patta is not available that tax in respect of the property was received. Learned Government Pleader also refers to a Government Order bearing No.3329/2020/Revenue dated
28.10.2020 wherein directions were issued as to the method by which files have to be reconstituted in cases where patta has been lost. Admittedly, the documents produced by the petitioner as Exts.P1 to P6 and P8 would show that the patta has been issued to the petitioner in respect of 5 cents of property in survey No.16/1 of Enanalloor Village, Muvattupuzha Taluk. A perusal of Ext.P11 report and letter would reveal that the assigned land is adjacent to the petitioner’s residential house in survey No.15/16 and that the assigned land is within the boundaries of the sketch in the patta and further that the extent of property is 5 cents and that it is in the possession of the petitioner.
In view of the above facts and circumstances, I WP(C)NO.41910/2023 6 am of the opinion that the third respondent shall take necessary steps to issue duplicate patta/certificate of ownership in respect of 5 cents of property in survey No.16/1 of Enanalloor Village assigned as per L.A.No.68/70 to the petitioner taking into consideration Exts.P1 to P6, P8 and Ext.P10 documents and Ext.P11 report and letter submitted in favour of the petitioner and also taking into consideration the directions in Ext.P12 judgment and also the Government Order dated 28.10.2020 issued in this regard, copies of which shall be made available before the third respondent by the petitioner. The proceedings shall be finalised without much delay, at any rate, within an outer limit of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. Steps shall be taken by the fifth respondent to accept tax in respect of the property covered by patta No.LA 68/70 within a further period of two weeks thereafter.
Operative part
The Writ Petition is disposed of with the above directions. Sd/- VIJU ABRAHAM JUDGE WP(C)NO.41910/2023 7 APPENDIX OF WP(C) 41910/2023 PETITIONER EXHIBITS Exhibit P1 Exhibit P2 Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FOR ISSUANCE OF PATTAYAM AS CONTAINED IN THE FILE ISSUED UNDER RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT TRUE COPY OF THE ENQUIRY REPORT DATED 15-01-1970 TRUE COPY OF THE STATUTORY NOTICE CALLING FOR OBJECTION UNDER APPENDIX-5 DATED 16-01-1970 Exhibit P3(a) TRUE COPY OF THE ENDORSEMENT ON EXHIBIT-P3 NOTICE WAS PUBLISHED IN AYAVANA PANCHAYAT Exhibit P4 Exhibit P5 Exhibit P6 Exhibit P7 Exhibit P8 TRUE COPY OF THE ASSIGNMENT ORDER APPROVED BY SPECIAL TAHASILDAR LA TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER OF ASSIGNMENT ALONG WITH SCHEDULE OF LAND DATED 26-02-1970 TRUE COPY OF THE FEE, TAX, CHARGES, ETC. BY GOVERNMENT TREASURY CHALLAN DATED 05-03-1970 TRUE COPY OF THE INFORMATION SUPPLIED TO THAT EFFECT UNDER RTI ACT TRUE COPY OF THE EXTRACT OF THE REGISTER KEPT IN TALUK OFFICE, MUVATTUPUZHA CONTAINING THE ENTRIES IN RESPECT OF PATTAYAM ISSUED, OBTAINED UNDER RTI ACT Exhibit P9 TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 21-05-2022 WP(C)NO.41910/2023 8 Exhibit P10 TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FORWARDED BY THE VILLAGE OFFICER ON 13-06-2022 WITH REPORT TO THE TAHASILDAR, MUVATTUPUZHA Exhibit P11 TRUE COPY OF THE TALUK SURVEYOR REPORT AND LETTER DATED 26-12-2022 SEND TO TAHASILDAR Exhibit P12 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT IN W.P. (C)NO. 6548/2018 DATED 29-01-2020
Questions this judgment answers
What did the Court decide in this case?
The Court recorded the following disposition: The Writ Petition is disposed of with the above
Which statutory provisions did this judgment involve?
Right to Information Act, 2005.
Which court decided this case, and when?
Kerala High Court, on 10 Jan 2024. The bench was VIJU ABRAHAM.
Precedent status how later indexed judgments have treated this case
No known negative treatment found in the Courts & Cases corpus.
This is a result about the indexed corpus, not a finding that the judgment remains good law. Coverage may be incomplete.