Misuse of land allotted by government should be checked and action committee should submit report: HC

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has directed the government to form an action committee comprising top officials to examine whether illegal activity is taking place with the license of local bodies on the land allotted by the government under the Land Assignment Act. The action committee should submit a report to the high court.

The action committee has to be formed by the chief secretary. The court should be informed how the action committee was formed and permission should be obtained. An order regarding the inspection will be issued later.

A bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S Manu passed the interim order on a public interest litigation filed by PB Satheesh, a native of Mannuthy, the director of 'Nerkazcha' association.

The petition has sought a direction to the local bodies not to issue licences, permissions or certificates for activities contrary to the title deeds and registration conditions. The petition also demanded that such land be reclaimed.

The division bench assessed that scrutiny of each license and permission would be required. The court cannot find time for this in the petition, which has 1043 respondents, including the government and local bodies. The general order does not make sense at this stage. That is why it was suggested to form an action committee.

The report should be submitted to the court after examining what is stated in the petition and what is brought to the notice in the interest of the public. The draft proposal for the formation of the committee should be submitted within four weeks. The petition will be considered again on November 8.