JCB fined Rs 45 lakh for removing soil; mosque authorities in charge of Kabristan land excluded from punishment

KASARAGOD: Revenue officials have imposed a fine of Rs 45 lakh on a JCB owner who removed the soil from Kabristan area as demanded by the mosque committee members. The allegation was framed that the wetland involved in the data bank was filled with soil. The mosque owners who are the owners of the land were exempted from all charges and only the JCB owner was punished. Initially, the fine was Rs 12 lakh but was later increased to Rs 45 lakh. The collector then confiscated the JCB. N Thangaraj, a native of Erode, who lives in a rented house at Kaithakkad in Cheruvathur, is the one who is suffering.

Thangaraj was summoned on June 24, 2023, by the mosque committee members to remove the soil covered in the Kabristan on the eastern side of the Nazrat-ul-Islam Jamaath mosque in Ganesh Mukku. Chandera SI MV Sreedas and agriculture department officials, who came to know about the removal of sand, brought the JCB police station. Later, the revenue department imposed a fine of Rs 12 lakh.

Though the mosque committee members went to the collectorate with NA Nellikkunnu MLA and lodged a complaint, the fine was increased to Rs 45 lakh on June 14, 2024. The price of the JCB was fixed at Rs 29.9 lakh and a penalty of one-and-a-half times that amount was imposed.

Only the soil has been removed, and it is still lying there. The fine was imposed under the Paddy Field Wetland Conservation Act for filling up 60 loads of soil in a length of 20 metres and a width of 12 metres. As the fine was not paid, the JCB was confiscated by district collector K Inbasekaran to the government on July 27, 2024. The mosque committee members abandoned Thangaraj.

Brought with a loan of Rs 37 lakh

The JCB was brought after taking a loan of Rs 37 lakhs and has been rusting in the Chandera police station premises for the past 18 months. Thangaraj's family, including his wife Suchitra and twin daughters, is on the verge of committing suicide as there is no income.

Thangaraj and his family had filed a petition with the Kasargod district collector alleging that the mosque committee had misled him and that the fine should be waived off, but to no avail. The family has lodged a complaint with the revenue minister.

"The mosque committee members abandoned me saying that I was not called for work and that they had no money to pay the fine. I can't get to the mosque site with the JCB without them calling. There's no way to live."

- N Thangaraj

(JCB owner)