Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court on Thursday sought the State government’s response to a public interest litigation challenging the assignment of Kerala University land to the AKG Centre for Research and Studies in 1977. The court granted the State three weeks to file an affidavit.

The plea was filed by RS Sasikumar, former Joint Registrar and former Syndicate member of Kerala University, who alleged that while the government order referred to the assignment of only 15 cents of land, the AKG Centre and the CPM were currently in possession of over 55 cents, including university land and government puramboke land. The case, filed as a public interest litigation, was considered by a division bench headed by Chief Justice Soumen Sen, with Justice Syam Kumar also on the bench.

The petition seeks the cancellation of the alleged illegal occupation of 40 cents of Kerala University land.

It challenges the claim that 15 cents of university land located in Vanchiyoor village, Thiruvananthapuram, was transferred to the AKG Memorial Centre under the 1977 government order.

According to the petitioner, no records relating to the assignment under the said government order are available with the Department of Archaeology, the Revenue Department, the District Collectorate, Kerala University, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, or other concerned institutions. The plea also points out that the institution is not a research centre recognised by the university and that the land is being used for political activities rather than research purposes. The Revenue Department has reportedly stated that the land in question remains puramboke land, as it has not been formally assigned to the AKG Centre, no thandaper has been issued, and no land tax has been paid.

The petition further alleges that, in addition to the permitted 15 cents, as much as 40 cents of puramboke land has been illegally occupied and that buildings have been constructed without legal authorisation.

The petitioner claims that despite multiple representations and documents obtained under the Right to Information Act, the authorities have failed to take action to recover the excess land or remove the illegal encroachment. The plea argues that the land transfer is illegal and unconstitutional, violates provisions of the Kerala University Act and other applicable laws, and breaches fundamental principles governing the protection of public property. It seeks the eviction of those who have illegally occupied the land from the Centre.

Senior Advocate George Poonthottam appeared for the petitioner, along with advocates Nisha George and Akshara Raju.