New Delhi: The Kerala government has again suffered a setback in the Harrisons Malayalam land takeover case. The appeal filed by the government against the High Court order, which rejected the special officer’s move to take over land in possession of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd, has been rejected by the Supreme Court.
The government had submitted in the Supreme Court that the HC did not consider the reasons cited by the special officer to take over the land. The government also claimed that the special officer has the powers of a court under the Kerala Land Conservancy Act. However, the Supreme Court made it clear that the special officer has no powers to decide the ownership rights.
The Kerala High Court had stayed the move by the government to take over the 38,000 acres of land under the possession of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. The government had moved the apex court against this order. The revenue department took the stand that though the HC was against appointing a special officer to recover the land, it had not stated that the company owned the land and hence there was scope for an appeal. The High Court had only said that the special officer doesn't have the powers of a civil court to find out if there was any fraud in the land deal. The officials also pointed out that if there was a scam, the High Court order had stated that action should be initiated through a court of law.
However, since the Supreme Court has made it clear that the special officer doesn't have the powers to decide the ownership rights, the government is left with no options now. Under the Kerala Land Conservancy Act, there are hurdles before the government in taking over the Harrisons' estates. Since the company is claiming that it has the necessary documents, even if the government fights the case in a civil court and wins, the company can move appeals and prolong the case.
The government's only option now is the law against land encroachment, the Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Bill, that is in the works which could help the state to speed up procedures to take over the land.
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