The dispute over the ownership of 151.03 acres of land, purported to be part of a reserve forest in the Madikeri taluk of Kodagu but claimed by the wife of former Kerala Director-General of Police, is yet to be settled. The case has reached the High Court of Karnataka, which has issued a stay on the eviction notice issued by the Forest Department.
Daisy Jacob, wife of Jacob Thomas, had purchased the said land on Survey number 1/1, in 1990 but the Forest Department claimed its ownership of the land and asked her to vacate it.
July 7 order
She appealed before the Assistant Chief Conservator of Forests, who ruled on October 16, 2016, that she had occupied forest land and registered a forest offence case.
Following this, Ms. Jacob appealed before the Chief of Conservator of Forests (CCF), Kodagu. The latter upheld the orders of the ACF and issued a fresh order on July 7, 2017, asking her to vacate the land within a month.
Officials claim that the disputed property is part of the Pathighat reserve forests. There are documents to prove it, they say.
“There are private lands held as enclosures within the forest land in Kodagu but the status of the 151.03 acres of land in question was never in doubt as it was never an enclosure or a private land. It belongs to the Forest Department, substantiated by records and notifications,” according to Surya Sen, DCF, Kodagu.
Though the Forest Department personnel reached the spot on Tuesday (August 8) — after the expiry of the one-month notice period — to reclaim the land and evict her, Ms. Jacob had approached the court and brought a stay, forcing the authorities to return without completing the exercise, he added.
He told The Hindu that the officials could not execute the CCF order.
Instead, they conducted a property survey and mahazar and returned.
