KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has held subsequent buyer of a portion of paddy land cannot file an application seeking reclamation for constructing a residential building.The court issued the order on a petition filed by K S Thankachan, of Alappuzha, challenging the order of the Local Level Monitoring Committee (LLMC) and the District Level Authorised Committee (DLAC) rejecting the application for exemption for constructing a homestead.
He purchased the land from the original owner and then applied for an exemption under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wet Land Act, 2008.The court stated the purpose of exemption is for building a residential house in a paddy land held by the owner.
“The intention is to provide the cultivator/farmer/agriculturist with a residence within his cultivable paddy land. Here, around 10 cents of paddy land were purchased by the petitioner for the purpose of constructing a residential building,that too, in 2014 after the implementation of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008. It is the said land which was sought to be exempted,” the order stated.
It stated such an exercise could lead to gross misuse as then large extents of paddy land could be cut up into small properties and sold to different individuals, who could then separately seek exemption.