Setback for Kerala govt as court rejects suit over ownership of Cheruvally estate proposed for Sabarimala airport

Pala Sub Court, on Monday, rejected the suit filed by the state government claiming ownership of the Cheruvally estate in a legal battle that has extended for seven years. The verdict dealt a major blow to the state government, which has proposed the Sabarimala Green Field Airport in the Cheruvally estate. The court's ruling will also have ramifications for the long-pending dispute between the state government and the plantation owners, following a 2015 report recommending the resumption of land by the Special Officer M G Rajamanickam.

Ayana Charitable trust, Harrisons Malayalam limited, Sini Punnose are the defendants in the case. The government filed the suit in 2019. According to the state government, the property in Erumeli South village is known as Pandaravakapattom land in the 1910 settlement register, which is the basic and fundamental document to determine the title. The 1947 deeds, relied on by the defendants also say that it is a Pandaravakapattom land, as per the contention of the state.

The defendant (Ayana Charitable Trust) claims that it purchased the land from Harrison's Malayalam Limited in 2005. Saji Koduvath, Government Pleader, told Onmanorama that no document prior to 2005 shows the land in question is a private holding and that all the earlier documents had confirmed the title of Government land as Pandaravaka.

The defendants had told the court that their predecessors were in possession of land for more than a century and they have a right of adverse possession; a doctrine which allows someone to claim ownership of land under certain conditions if the land has been kept under possession for a certain timeperiod.

The trust authorities also cited that the Kongoor Namboothiris had a birthright over this property and that they sold this right to the predecessors of the defendants in 1947. Besides, they quoted title deed numbers to show that their predecessors obtained title to the forest land in Manimala village.

The government has said in the suit that Harrison Malayalam had no title/ownership. "In the 2005 deed, the forest land in Manimala village is included, but in 1923 and 1947 documents, land in Manimala village was not referred to," the government noted in the suit.

Harrisons Malayalam Limited had moved the High Court against the judgment of the single Judge dated 2012, wherein the court had directed the resumption of 22.45 hectares of land from the petitioners. The plantation owners had also questioned the legal powers of the Additional Secretary, Revenue Department, to take action against illegal possession of government land. The HC had observed that the Additional Secretary did not have jurisdiction to consider the question of violation of terms of lease, and there was a violation of principles of natural justice. "The HC directed the state government to pursue the case via a civil court and hence a suit was filed at Pala Sub Court," said Saji Koduvath.

Long legal battle over Cheruvally estate
The legal battle between the Kerala Government and the management of the Cheruvally estate over the ownership of the property has a long and eventful history. The dispute has even reached the Supreme Court. The key incidents related to the estate are as follows:

1. The beginning
The area currently referred to as Cheruvally estate was donated by the then rulers to Vanjipuzha Madom, a family based in Chengannur, which was also exempted from paying land tax on the property. The property also included land belonging to Paschima Devaswom, a temple. Reportedly, the entire area was later leased to Rubber Producing Company, a firm with headquarters at Number 42/10, London.

2. Registration
The company’s name was changed to Malayalam Plantation UK Holding in 1923. Registration of different properties taken on lease by the company in various districts of Kerala was carried out the same year.

3. Untouched by land reforms
Despite the implementation of the Kerala Land Reforms Act in 1963, the foreign ownership of the company was not examined.

4. New name
In 1978, the name of the company was changed again. The new name was Malayalam Plantation India Limited, with its headquarters in Kochi. The name was changed yet again in 1982 to Harrisons Malayalam Plantation, considering the shares held by Harrisons Company.

5. Acquisition move
In 1999, a report of the Subitha Menon Commission recommended that the estate land could be acquired by the government as the lease period had expired.

6. Purchase by church
In 2005, Cheruvally estate was purchased by Gospel for Asia Trust, which is currently known as Ayana Charitable Trust, under the Believers Church.

7. Other reports
A report of the Niveditha P Haran Commission submitted in 2006 said that the government could take over the estate. During the same period, the Justice Manoharan Committee and the Sajith Babu Committee also said that the land could be acquired. A survey was soon started in properties owned by Harrisons, but it was not completed.

8. Legal measures by a special advocate
The state government under Chief Minister Oommen Chandy launched legal measures to take over the property by appointing Susheela Bhat as special advocate in 2011. Subsequently, a single bench of the Kerala High Court ruled that the government could take over the land.

9. Rajamanickam report
In 2017, the government appointed a committee under M G Rajamanickam, IAS, which reported that 37,000 acres of land in Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Kottayam districts could be taken over.

10. Sabarimala airport
A special committee appointed by the government found in 2017 that Cheruvally estate was ideal for constructing the proposed Sabarimala airport.

11. High Court and Supreme Court orders
In 2018, the Kerala High Court revoked the Rajamanickam report and annulled the land acquisition procedures of the government. However, the High Court also ruled that the government could approach the civil court over the ownership of the estate. Later, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court order, following which the Revenue Department filed a petition before the Pala Court.

12. Land tax collection
The estate management approached the High Court seeking a directive to the government to accept land tax for the estate. The court ordered that the tax could be collected.