KUNHIPATHUMMA Vs. TELLICHERRY TALUK LAND BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Whether a 'cashew estate' is liable to be exempted from the computation of ceiling area under the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 ('the Act' for short) is the only question that arises for consideration in this Civil Revision Petition

(2.) The petitioners are the legal heirs of the declarant against whom a ceiling case numbered as TLB 1265/1973 was booked on the file of the Taluk Land Board, Thalassery. The Taluk Land Board by order dated 11.10.2010 had directed the declarant to surrender 34.17 acres as excess lands. The said order was challenged in C.R.P. No. 2713/2000 on the file of this Court under Section 103 of the Act. The declarant contended therein that lands acquired for public road and canal had been erroneously included in her account. The impugned order of the Taluk Land Board was set aside by this Court by order dated 06.08.2008. The case was remanded to the Taluk Land Board for fresh consideration enabling the declarant to put forth all her contentions.

(3.) The declarant after remand also contended that her family is entitled to hold upto 20 acres of land as per Section 82 (c) of the Act. It was the case of the declarant that the ceiling limit had been erroneously reckoned as 15 acres of land instead by the authorities. All these pleas did not obviously find favour with the Taluk Land Board which again passed an order to surrender the same extent. The said order of the Taluk Land Board dated 11.10.2010 was challenged in this Civil Revision Petition by the declarant (since deceased). The legal heirs of the declarant now seek the benefit of the amended provisions of the Act as regards the computation of ceiling area. The legal heirs confine their argument to the exemption provided for cashew estate under the amendment to the Act.