District Collector V.N. Jithendran has directed the Revenue Divisional Officer at Adoor, Tahsildar of Kozhencherry and the village officers of Aranmula, Mallappuzhaserry, and Kidangannur to take necessary steps to cancel the mutation of the 232 acres of land sold by Abraham Kalamannil of the Kozhencherry-based Mount Zion Educational Trust to the Chennai-based KGS Group.
The Collector’s action was on the basis of a petition filed to Land Revenue Commissioner T.O. Sooraj by the Thiruvaranmula Paithruka Grama Karma Samiti patron, Kummanam Rajashekharan, a few days ago.
In his petition, Mr. Rajashekharan alleged gross violation of laws and corruption in the mutation process.
Legal action
The petition said that Mr. Kalamannil was facing legal action for possession of land far exceeding the 15-acre limit prescribed by the Kerala Land Reforms Act and hence the sale of land and its mutation to the KGS Group was carried out in gross violation of the existing laws.
Mr. Rajashekharan had demanded re-examination of the entire process and cancellation of the mutation in toto, respecting the laws of the land.
The Land Revenue Commissioner had directed the Collector to conduct an urgent inquiry into the matter and take necessary action.
Inquiry held
The Collector, in his inquiry, had found violation of laws in the mutation process and ordered cancellation of the entire process as per the rules in this regard.
Quoting a reply received from the Revenue Department as per the Right to Information Act, the samiti leader said in his petition that the KGS Group had purchased 99.3624 ha of land, including 85.7402 ha of paddy land, from Mr. Kalamannil and some farmers in the three villages.
Plea dismissed
The government had earlier dismissed a plea from Aranmula Aviation Limited, chaired by Mr. Kalamannil (letter dated February 2, 2008), seeking exemption from Land Ceiling Act for the 200 acres of land purchased by him in the villages of Aranmula, Mallappuzhaserry, and Kidangannur.
