The Revenue department in Kerala has started survey measures to recover the excess land possessed by P.V. Anvar, MLA, at Kakkadampoyil in Kozhikode district. The action comes in the wake of a recent order by the Thamarassery Taluk Land Use Board.
According to Revenue department sources, the move will result in the forfeiture of 6.25 acres of land after the land survey work. The Thamarassery tahsildar will lead the forfeiture measures initiated based on a report it had submitted earlier to the Kerala State Land Use Board.
It was on July 19 that the Kerala High Court directed the State government and the Zonal Taluk Land Board, Kannur, holding the charge of Thamarassery village to complete the proceedings to recover the excess land in the possession of Mr. Anvar and his family members. There was also an instruction from the court to file a compliance report by October 29, 2023.
The court made its intervention subsequent to a contempt of court petition moved by Malappuram native and human rights activist K.V. Shaji against the government and the land board for not complying with the court’s earlier directive to speed up the proceedings for the recovery of excess land from Mr. Anvar and his family.
According to the complainant, a High Court order in March 2022 had directed the Kerala government and the land board to conclude the proceedings in six months. In the preliminary report, the government had pointed out that Mr. Anvar and his family members were holding 22.82 acres of land over and above the permissible limit and efforts were under way to fast-track the proceedings.
Though the court then granted five months’ time to complete the proceedings, the government and the land board failed to meet it. The chairman of the land board had tendered an unconditional apology and expressed regrets over the delay when the court considered the contempt of court petition.
