Geetha v. Revenue Divisional Officer & Agricultural Officer, Palakkad District

# **IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM** ## **PRESENT** ## **THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN** **TUESDAY, THE 13[TH] DAY OF FEBRUARY 2024 / 24TH MAGHA, 1945** **WP(C) NO. 5649 OF 2024** **PETITIONER:** **GEETHA AGED 53 YEARS W/O LATE MURALI, VALLUVANCHIRA KALAM, PANANGATTIRI P.O., PALAKKAD DISTRICT., PIN - 678506** **BY ADVS. BINOY VASUDEVAN R.MANIKANTAN SREEJITH SREENATH RINCY KHADER** ## **RESPONDENTS:** **1 THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER OFFICE OF THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, VIDYUT NAGAR, PARAKUNNAM, PALAKKAD, PIN - 678101 2 THE AGRICULTURAL OFFICER KRISHI BHAVAN, ELAVANCHERR P.O., PALAKKAD DISTRICT., PIN – 678508 R BY SR.GP.SMT.K.AMMINIKUTTY** **THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON** **13.02.2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:** **WP(C) NO. 5649 OF 2024 : 2 :** ## **JUDGMENT** The petitioner has approached this Court aggrieved by Ext.P2 whereby Form 5 application submitted by her has been rejected by the Revenue Divisional Officer solely relying on the report of the Agricultural Officer. 2. The petitioner is the owner in possession of an extent of 0.202 Hectares (4.99 cents) of property in Re.Sy.No.24/4/1 (old Sy.No.37B/2,4,5) of Elavancherry Village, Chittur Taluk, Palakkad District, by virtue of Ext.P1 document. 3. According to the petitioner, the aforesaid property will not come within the ambit of paddy land or wet land as defined under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 **WP(C) NO. 5649 OF 2024 : 3 :** (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act, 2008' for short). However, it is stated that the property is wrongly included in the Data Bank. The petitioner filed an application in Form 5 under Rule 4(d) of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Rules, 2008 before the Revenue Divisional Officer to remove the said land from the Data Bank. The same has been rejected by the Revenue Divisional Officer vide Ext.P2 stating that the Agricultural Officer has reported that the property is converted after 2008 and is suitable for paddy cultivation and that there is paddy cultivation on the side of the property of the petitioner and if the subject property is converted, that will affect the paddy cultivation nearby and the LLMC has, therefore, recommended not to remove the property from the Data Bank. **WP(C) NO. 5649 OF 2024 : 4 :** 4. The petitioner has filed this writ petition challenging Ext.P2 contending, _inter alia,_ that the same is vitiated by non application of mind and is against the provisions of the Act and the binding precedents of this Court. It is also contended that the Revenue Divisional Officer should have called for a report from the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre, (for short, 'the KSRSEC') to ascertain the status of the land as on 12.08.2008, the date of coming into force of the Act, 2008. 5. The relevant consideration for inclusion of a property as paddy land or wetland is as to the nature of the property as on the date of coming into force of the Act, 2008. On a perusal of Ext.P2, it is evident that, without any independent assessment of the nature of the property as on the date of coming **WP(C) NO. 5649 OF 2024 : 5 :** into force of the Act, 2008, the Revenue Divisional Officer has relied solely upon the report of the Agricultural Officer and the recommendation of the LLMC to refuse to remove the property from the Data Bank. 6. This Court has held in the decision in **Arthasasthra Ventures (India) LLP** v. **State of Kerala** [2022 (7) KHC 591] that, the Revenue Divisional Officer must, while considering an application for removal of a property from the Data Bank consider the question whether the land was a paddy land on the date of coming into force of the Act and also whether the land is suitable for paddy cultivation or not. This Court in **Muraleedharan Nair** v. **Revenue Divisional Officer** [2023 (4) KLT 270] has held that when the petitioner seeks **WP(C) NO. 5649 OF 2024 : 6 :** removal of his land from the Data Bank, it will not be sufficient for the Revenue Divisional Officer to dismiss the application simply stating that the LLMC has decided not to remove the land from Data Bank. The Revenue Divisional Officer being the competent authority, has to independently assess the status of the land and come to a conclusion that removal of the land from Data Bank will adversely affect paddy cultivation in the land in question or in the nearby paddy lands or that it will adversely affect sustenance of wetlands in the area and in the absence of such findings, the impugned order is unsustainable. In **Aparna Sasi Menon** v. **Revenue Divisional Officer** [2023 (4) KLT 270] this Court has held that the predominant factor for determination while considering the Form-5 application should be whether the land which is **WP(C) NO. 5649 OF 2024 : 7 :** sought to be excluded from Data Bank is one where paddy cultivation is possible and feasible. 7. In spite of the categorical declarations by this Court in the decisions cited above, the petitioner's application has been rejected, solely relying on the report of the Agricultural Officer, who recommended not to remove the land from the Data Bank. Accordingly, I find that Ext.P2 order cannot be sustained and I set aside the same, with a direction to the 1[st] respondent, the Revenue Divisional Officer to reconsider the application in Form-5, in accordance with law and take a decision in the matter after obtaining the KSRSEC report at the expense of the petitioner, within a period of two months from the date of receipt of the report from the KSRSEC. The petitioner shall apply before the **WP(C) NO. 5649 OF 2024 : 8 :** Agricultural Officer concerned for KSRSEC report within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. The petitioner shall produce a copy of this writ petition along with the copy of the judgment before the 1[st] respondent. The writ petition is disposed as above. **Sd/MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN JUDGE** SB ## **WP(C) NO. 5649 OF 2024 : 9 :** ## **APPENDIX** ## **PETITIONER EXHIBITS** - **Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE DOCUMENT NO.1283/2009 DATED 20-05-2019 OF S.R.O.KOLLENGODE.** - **Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO.2250/2023 DATED 1603-2023** - **Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE NO.A3/213/2024 DATED 12-01-2024 ISSUED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE ELAVANCHERRY GRAMA PANCHAYAT**