KOCHI: The High Court, on Wednesday, issued a stay order on the Revenue secretary’s decision to allow a private company to reclaim 5.8365 hectares of paddy land in Kunnathunadu village, Ernakulam.
The court issued the order on a petition filed by environmental activist C R Neelakandan, seeking to quash the decision. According to the petitioner, the District Collector had earlier refused the request of the company to convert the land.
However, the Revenue secretary allowed reclamation of the paddy land on an appeal filed by the company against the Collector’s order. The company sought to reclaim the land as it proposed to use them for educational and charitable purposes. The petitioner said the order was illegal and issued without proper application of the mind. The department ought to have asked for the report.