THOMAS VARGHESE Vs. GOVERNMENT OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The original application filed under Sec. 10 of the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Act, 2003, (hereinafter referred to as "the EFL Act") claiming that the application schedule property is not an ecologically fragile land, was dismissed by the Tribunal. The applicant is in appeal.

(2.) The application schedule property has an extent of 4.55 acres. It is situated in R.S. 69/3, 69/4, 69/5 (old survey 29/01/2012, 19/01/2018 and 19/01/2017) of Marayur Village. Exts.A1 to A3 are the documents of title of the applicant which are of the year 2003. Exts.A5 to A9 are its immediate prior deeds. Out of the same Exts.A5 to A8 are of the year 1988 and Ext.A9 is of the year 1965. Ext.A10 is the basic title deed which is of the year 1959. The property was purchased by the vendor thereunder in a Government auction in the year 1929. Ext.A13 is the notification under the EFL Act.

(3.) The applicant claimed that the property in question was being cultivated by him and his predecessors with long term crops like pepper, gooseberry, nutmeg, coffee and cocoa. That apart, the property contains Mahagani trees and coconut trees. The land is an agricultural land and it had been so. Therefore, the land in question is not a forest within the definition of the word "forest" under the EFL Act, it is claimed.