IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
WP(C).No. 21294 of 2010(J)
1. S.P.SOUDATH ,
... Petitioner
Vs
1. THE SPECIAL TAHSILDAR
... Respondent
2. KERALA INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
For Petitioner :SRI.JOBY JACOB PULICKEKUDY
For Respondent : No Appearance
The Hon'ble MR. Justice T.R.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR
Dated :20/07/2010
O R D E R
T.R. RAMACHANDRAN NAIR, J.
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W.P.(C) No.21294 OF 2010
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Dated this the 20th day of July, 2010.
J U D G M E N T
Essentially the matter concerns the prayer for a direction to
the 1st respondent to refer the matter to the Land Acquisition
court. Herein, the petitioner was the owner and in possession of
the property having an extent of 1 Acre and 53 cents in resurvey
No.63/03B of Keezhalloor village, Thalassery Taluk. The property
was acquired by the Kerala Infrastructure Development
Corporation (KINFRA) for the Kannur Airport Project. The
valuation as well as other steps for payment of compensation
were completed by negotiation with the 2nd respondent.
2. The dispute herein is with respect to the 8 cents of land
for which the Keezhalloor Panchayath has also claimed ownership
and possession. Ultimately, the petitioner filed a statement as
per Exhibit P2 claiming compensation for the land at the rate of
Rs.1 lakh per cent. The petitioner has also sought for reference
of the matter to the reference court. This is answered by the
W.P.(C) No.21294/2010 2
Land Acquisition Officer by Exhibit P3 stating that the petitioner
had confined the claim for compensation only to the extent of 1
Acre and 45 cents and presently, Keezhalloor Grama Panchayath
is in possession of the property.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that it is
entirely a matter for the reference court to decide and it was not
open for the Special Tahsildar to consider the disputed claims
between the parties. Evidently, the application for reference is
under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
In that view of the matter, there will be a direction to the
1st respondent to refer the claim for compensation to the
reference court in terms of Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act
if the application is filed within the statutory period prescribed.
Appropriate action will be taken within a period of one month
from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. The
petitioner will produce a copy of this judgment along with a copy
of the writ petition for compliance.
This writ petition is disposed of as above.
T.R. RAMACHANDRAN NAIR
JUDGE
smp