Summary:
Thiruvananthapuram: With the state government receiving a setback from the Supreme Court in the battle for ownership of 37,000-plus acres currently vested with plantation giant Harrisons Malayalam Limited, things are back to square one. Nor can the special officer declare them to be forged, fraudulent or obtained by collusion. The high court order upheld by the Supreme Court this week, said that “the various orders and certificates issued by courts, land tribunals, and taluk land board cannot be nullified by the special officer exercising jurisdiction under the KLC Act. “Once the authority declares these lands as government property, the special officer can proceed with the provisions of the Kerala Land Conservancy Act, 1957, to evict the unauthorised occupants from the government land,” the letter said.But the revenue department did not lend any attention to it as it was optimistic about a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court. The 14-page letter sent by special officer M G Rajamanickam to additional chief secretary (revenue) P H Kurien on June 6, requested the government to direct the land tribunals which issued purchase certificates to the company to cancel them and then ask the taluk land boards (quasi-judicial bodies empowered to book land ceiling cases) to declare the land held as government-owned..