Kozhikode: New documents before the Zonal Taluk Land Board, hearing the excess land case of influential LDF MLA P V Anwar, reveal that Anwar and his family sold nearly 20 acres to bring their landholdings within the limits set by the Kerala Land Reforms Act.
Yet, Anwar and his family are sitting on excess land, though marginally.
Anwar (56) and his first wife Sheeja (53) own 14.81 acres, against the land ceiling of 12 acres; and Anwar and his second wife Afsath (45) own 10.77 acres, against the land ceiling of 10 acres.
The family owns 25.58 acres. "The family has been selling or transferring properties to others despite the proceedings to recover excess land against them," said RTI activist K V Shaji, who is pursuing the excess land case in the High Court.
In May this year, Afsath sold 69 cents in Trikkalangode in Malappuram district. "If you include the properties they sold over the years, their total landholdings will be around 45 acres," he said.
He said the Zonal Taluk Land Board, formerly known as the Thamarassery Taluk Land Board, will have to find out the properties of Anwar and his family. To be sure, the Land Board had told the High Court of Kerala that Anwar, Sheeja, and Afsath together own only 22.82 acres.
Shaji's new documents puncture the findings of the Land Board.
In a hearing on Saturday, July 29, RTI activist K V Shaji submitted documents with title deed numbers before the Zonal Taluk Land Board to allege that the two-time MLA from Nilambur hid his landholdings in the election affidavits and before the Land Board.
Onmanorama has reviewed the affidavits and documents submitted before the Zonal Taluk Land Board by Shaji and also Anwar and his family.
'No excess land, end the proceedings'
According to Anwar's affidavit, he and his first wife Sheeja have four children, and so the family of six can possess up to 12 acres, as per Section 82 (1) (c) of the Land Reforms Act.
Anwar married Afsath in April 2009 and they have a son.
As per Section 82 (6), the mother and child will be considered as another family, and as per Section 82 (1) (b), they can hold up to 10 acres, said Anwar's affidavit.
Of the 22.8 acres identified by the Taluk Land Board, 11 acres at Koodaranji in Kozhikode district and on the border of Malappuram district is in the name of PeeVeeAar Entertainments, a 60:40 partnership between Anwar (6.6 acres) and his second wife Afsath (4.4 acres). The couple runs a water theme park Nature Tourism Village on the property.
Anwar and his family told the Land Board that the property is in the name of a partnership and should not be clubbed with the family's assets.
If the 11 acres are taken out, Anwar and Sheeja have only 90.3 cents in Koodaranji village.
In Perakamanna village in Malappuram's Ernad taluk, Anwar and Sheeja own 126.28 cents, including an inherited plot of 53 cents with a house.
In Trikkalangode in Ernad taluk, Anwar and Sheeja own 6.48 acres.
In all, Anwar and Sheeja's family own 8.21 acres in the three villages, said the affidavit. They did not include Anwar's 6.6 acres which are part of the water theme park, saying it is a partnership firm.
But in the Taluk Land Board hearing on July 29, the family's lawyer said the partnership firm was not registered, said Shaji.
To be sure, Anwar has been listing the property in his name in the election affidavits in 2016, 2019, and 2021.
So by Anwar's own affidavit, he and Sheeja own 14.81 acres, marginally above the ceiling of 12 acres.
Shaji reveals his cards
RTI Shaji, who filed a contempt of court against the Taluk Land Board for sitting on the proceedings since December 2017, has filed documents listing out the title deeds of land owned by Anwar and his family.
According to the documents, Anwar owns 5.76 acres, registered through eight title deeds in Kuzhalmannam (Palakkad), Edavanna (Malappuram), Meenchantha (Kozhikode), and Thiruvampadi (Kozhikode) sub-registrar offices. These properties were bought in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2015, and 2021.
None of these plots were mentioned by Anwar in his affidavit.
Anwar and four others (P V Ashraf, P V Ajman, Saleem, and Shahida) together own another 5.9995 acres in three different places. These plots were registered at Ernakulam's Edathala (2005), Meenchantha (2008), and Kuzhalmannam (2005) sub-registrar offices, said Shaji in his affidavit.
None of these plots was mentioned in Anwar's affidavit before the Zonal Taluk Land Board, said Shaji.
If Anwar's 5.76 acres are added to Anwar and Sheeja's self-declared assets of 14.81 acres, the family's landholdings will rise to 20.57 acres. (We are not adding the 5.9995 acres Anwar owns with four other people because his share in the plots cannot be ascertained from the affidavit.)
Afsath's stake
Anwar's family affidavit submitted in February 2022 said Afsath owns 1.96 acres and another 69 cents in Koodaranji village, apart from the 4.4 acres she owns as part of the water theme park.
But in May 2023, Afsath sold the 69-cent plot, according to the title deed submitted by Shaji.
With that, her stake has come down to 6.36 acres.
RTI activist Shaji has submitted documents to prove that Anwar and his second wife Afsath jointly own 1.1 acres. The property was registered in 2015 at Thiruvampadi sub-registrar office.
Afsath also owns another 2.6186 acres in two plots. They were registered in 2015 (two title deeds) at Thiruvampadi sub-registrar office.
None of the three plots were mentioned by the family, the activist said.
The new revelation will take Afsath's landholdings to 10.07 acres, a tad above the 10-acre ceiling.
'They sold assets when the proceedings were on'
Afsath's landholdings appear to be within the ceiling because she sold her properties, said Shaji.
Afsath had 74.74 cents registered at the Thiruvampadi sub-registrar office. She sold it to one Subair in 2020, according to documents presented by Shaji. She also sold 69 cents in May this year.
Anwar also sold 90.3 cents at Koodaranji to one Shefeeq Alungal of Malappuram in October 2021.
But these are the recent sales. According to the affidavits submitted by Shaji, Anwar has sold 19.13 acres since 2005.
Of that, 11.46 acres were in Aluva for which Anwar paid land tax till 2006-2007, said Shaji.
The RTI activist Anwar did not mention any of these properties in his affidavits submitted before the Election Commission or Taluk Land Board.
Anwar's staff said the Land Board had not imposed any restrictions on selling the properties.
Meanwhile, Kannur Zonal Land Board chairman T R Rajeesh, who is hearing the case, tendered an unconditional apology to the High Court of Kerala for the delay in completing the proceedings.
As requested, the court granted another three months to the board to complete the verification of Anwar's properties.
The Land Board's next hearing is on August 16.
