DISTRICT COLLECTOR Vs. KURAISA BEEVI (DIED) AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By consent, the Writ Appeal is taken up for final disposal.

(2.) The Official respondents in W.P.(MD).No.14771 of 2013 are the appellants. Aggrieved by the order dated 09.03.2017 made in the said writ petition, in and by which the rejection of request made by the petitioner for grant of Patta came to be quashed with the further direction directing the third respondent to grant Patta in favour of the petitioners 2 and 3. The writ petition has been filed by the original writ petitioner and during the pendency of the writ petition, the original writ petitioner died and in his place, the respondents 2 and 3 herein came on record as her legal representatives.

(3.) A perusal of the materials would disclose among other things that the first respondent/writ petitioner is in possession of the land with the superstructure comprised in Oruthattu Village Natham New Survey No. 853/11 (Old Survey No.641/6), admeasuring 26 cents. The insolvency proceedings in I.P.No.5 of 1950, on the file of the Sub Court, Madurai, declaring that Somasundaram Pillai and his brother Chokku Pillai as insolvent and their 13 items of properties are brought for sale and Muthiah Pillai @ Periyathampiya Pillai has purchased 13 items of property and one among them is the property owned by the respondent/writ petitioner. Muthiah Pillai in turn executed a Will in respect of the said properties in favour of his sons viz., Jeyasakthivel, Sudanthiramani and Jeyapaul and the said persons in turn vide registered sale deed dated 22.12.1975, Document No.2706/1975, registered on the file of the Sub Registrar, Nilakottai, has conveyed such property in favour of the respondent/writ petitioner, who after purchase has put up a superstructure on three cents of land and it is also in complicance of Statutory Rules and Regulations and made a repeated request for grant of Patta. The third appellant herein vide impugned order dated 19.04.2013, has rejected the said request, on the ground that as per the Revenue Standing Orders, no Grama Natham land beyond the extent of three cents can be assigned and since the said land is classified as Grama Natham as per the revenue records. The first respondent/writ petitioner made a challenge to the said order of rejection of the third appellant herein, dated 19.04.2013, by filing the writ petition and it was entertained and notices were ordered. The learned Judge, on going through the materials found that the State did not have paramount title to lands classified as Grama Natham and the very object of introduction of the Natham Settlement Scheme was to bring these Natham land under assessment by issuing Patta and under the guise of the Natham Settlement Scheme, the Government cannot assume itself the power of dispossessing persons, who were already in possession of Natham land. The learned Judge further recorded the finding that the Revenue Standing Orders 21 cannot be relied upon in respect of the lands classified as Village Natham and also taken note of the factual aspect, has allowed the writ petition and thereby quashed the impugned proceedings of the third respondent, with the further direction directing the said Officials to issue Patta to the entire extent of 26 cents of land in Survey No.853/11 to the legal representatives of the original writ petitioner viz., respondents 2 and 3.