THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the government deciding to appeal against the High Court Division Bench order regarding land reclassification, uncertainty looms about more than two lakhs application piled up in government offices. With this, the income hitherto received by the government through reclassification will cease.

Earlier, the division bench of the High Court upheld the single bench order that for reclassification of more than 25 cents, 10 percent of the fair value of the excess land should be paid as a fee. The government's demand of paying 10 percent of the total property to reclassify the land above 25 cents was not accepted by the court. So far, the government has received more than Rs 1100 crore in land reclassification fees. More than Rs 1000 crore from this was received during this government's tenure.

If the division bench approves the rule to make reclassification free for land up to 25 cents, the government is sure to suffer huge revenue loss in the coming years. After the February 2021 order making reclassification free for land up to 25 cents, the number of applications for land reclassification has witnessed a rise.