Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday ordered an immediate halt to the construction of CPM's party offices in the hilly Idukki district.

The court directed the district collector to stop the construction of party offices in Udumbanchola, Bisonvalley and Santhanpara.

The order was passed by a special bench hearing land-encroachment cases in Munnar. 

The bench further said the collector can seek assistance from the police to carry out the order. The District Police Chief has also been directed to ensure adequate protection for authorities.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan, the other day, had demanded that the construction of the CPM area committee office in Santhanpara violated the Land Assignment (LA) Rules, 1964 and that it should be razed. He also demanded that a case be registered against all those who violated the law.

The Idukki District Congress Committee alleged that the office at Santhanpara is on a land categorised as Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) where even the construction of houses or labour quarters, locally known as 'layam', is banned as per a government order issued in 2020.

The village officer issued a stop memo to halt construction activities at Santhanpara, citing the regulations. However, the CPM paid no heed and continued to build the structure. 

As per the documents accessed by District Congress Committee general secretary Bijomani under the Right to Information Act, it was revealed that the four-storey building was being constructed without a non-objection certificate (NOC) from the Revenue Department in violation of the LA Rules, 1964.

The building at Santhanpara is being constructed on an eight-cent property in the name of CPM district secretary C V Varghese.