RAJAMMAL Vs. HAJIRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Can a Land Tribunal issue certificates of purchase in respect of the same land to two different persons under the scheme of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act' only) This question has been succinctly answered in Patinhare Purayil Nabeesumma v. Miniyatan Zacharias, 2008 5 SCC 25 as follows:

(2.) An application put in by the first respondent for possession certificate was returned by the Village Officer with an endorsement that Ponnuchami did not hold any land in Sy. No. 6/5 as per the village records. The Village Officer was presumably swayed by the fact that the land for which the possession certificate was sought is covered by a certificate of purchase in favour of Anthony Muthu. Discreet enquiries made by the first respondent revealed that the predecessor in-interest of the revision petitioners had also obtained a certificate of purchase from the Land Tribunal. The first respondent was admittedly not a party to the proceedings in O.A. No. 277/1975 granting certificate of purchase to Anthony Muthu and was not therefore bound by it in law. However the first respondent preferred an appeal to the Appellate Authority against the order in O.A. No. 277/1975 to remove the cloud on title and set right the anomaly in the certificates of purchase. The Appellate Authority had by the order impugned condoned the delay in filing the appeal by the first respondent and set aside the order in O.A. No. 277/1975 and further remanded the matter to the Land Tribunal for fresh consideration.

(3.) Mr. T. Sethumadhavan, Advocate on behalf of the revision petitioners contended that the order of the Appellate Authority is liable to be set at naught for the following among other grounds: