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.