Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has put on hold the controversial order issued by the revenue additional secretary allowing reclamation of 15 acres of wetland at Kunnathunadu village in Ernakulam overruling the stop memo issued by the district collector.
A directive regarding the same was issued by the Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan to the revenue secretary. It is likely that the order will be quashed and the legalities are being worked out by the state government.
The land is owned by the Tamil Nadu-based business partners of an industrialist who is close to the CPM. According to official records, the land is the property of Speaks Properties Pvt. Ltd., a Kochi-based real estate firm. The website of Central Company Affairs Ministry says that the directors of the company are Krishnama Rajamony, Vajravelu Kanniyappan and Vappala Narendran, industrialists belonging to Tamil Nadu. They are partners of various firms owned by the Kerala industrialist, who is also an investor in the companies of these Tamil Nadu businessmen.
The controversial order was issued on January 31, a day before the former Revenue Secretary retired from service and without the knowledge of the revenue minister. It also violated the Kerala Paddy and Wetland Act and ignored the advice of the advocate general. The revenue minister, who intervened in the issue after a row broke out, issued directives to the revenue secretary to cancel the order.
As per the data bank prepared based on the Kerala Wetland Protection Act, the 15 acres (5.8365 hectares) is paddy field. After an agitation was launched by the local people against the reclamation, the Collector issued a stop memo which ordered restoring the land to its original condition. The mutation of the property and its sale were also frozen by the collector. The firm owning the land filed an appeal against this order and the revenue additional secretary cancelled it.
Legal opinion was sought on whether the order cancelling the collector's stop memo as such would stand the scrutiny of the court. The claim of some revenue officials that the company has obtained an order in its favour is also being verified.
