Thiruvananthapuram: The backlog of thousands of cases in land tribunals may soon get cleared. Kerala's Land Board has issued guidelines to dispose of in six months the more than one lakh pending cases concerning land ownership for tenants even half a century after the Land Reforms Act came into force.
The Land Board, after finding that cases were getting dragged endlessly because of lack of responses from landlords or legal heirs, has directed that tribunals should issue verdicts in two or three hearings.
It said that those eligible should not be denied ownership of land for want of written lease agreements from April 1, 1964.
These are the guidelines:
•On the basis of the recorded, registered, and no-objection tenancy documents, current land can be transferred to all tenants subject to the maximum permissible limit.
•Purchase certificate can be issued to the current holder of land whose records have names of tenant or his forebears, or if the land had tenancy before January 1, 1970, and whose existing or previous documents have recorded birthright incorrectly, after verifying the existence of tenancy prior to 1970.
•In cases where the tenant who has applied for permanent tenancy is in possession of the land but is unable to produce the documents, the hearing date should be fixed and notice issued as soon as the officer concerned/village officer submits the report. If no complaint is received, the purchase certificate can be issued on the basis of eligibility and after confirming that it is not government land.
•Individual notice and public notice should be issued under the Land Reforms Act if landlord, heirs or other parties in a case before the tribunal are known. If no objection is received within the hearing date, the case should be decided in the absence of the other party. If there is an objection, an order should be issued after considering it.
•Cases that have been abandoned can be considered by tribunals on appeal and it does not require an order from the Appellate Authority.
• the tribunal issues a purchase certificate, the tehsildar/village officer concerned should as per law make the necessary changes in revenue records, including the title and conveyance.
•Tenancy cases in tribunals should be classified on the basis of villages and landlords and the procedures to dispose them should be expedited.
This proposal does not apply to land owned by foreign companies and individuals or that over which disputes have not been settled.
The Land Reforms Act
The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963, lays out the rules for full ownership of land for tenants who had lease agreement with owners.
The Land Reforms Review Board, headed by the Revenue Minister, said that even 50 years after the law was enacted in 1970, many people still approach land tribunals over land rights and a solution must be found to this problem.
The rights of landlords and middlemen over land held by tenants are vested with the government since January 1, 1970. Tenants have to apply to the land tribunals to get the land in their names. The law gives the tribunal the power to do this on its own.
