KOCHI: Five decades after issuing title deeds to the occupants of private vested forests under Section 72K of the Land Reforms Act, the government is bringing a bill to declare the pattayams as invalid. The Kerala Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) (Amendment) Bill which was issued as an ordinance in 2020 has been sent to the law department and it is expected to be presented before the next Cabinet meeting.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in the Kerala Land Reforms Act 1963, or in any other law for the time being in force or in any judgement, decree or order of any court or tribunal, a certificate of purchase issued under sub section (1) of Section 72 K of the said Act may be a piece of evidence but cannot be a conclusive proof for proving that the land held by a person is under personal cultivation,” says the amendment.
Protest is brewing in the high ranges against the government move as thousands of farmers living in forest fringe areas may lose their rights over the land they have been cultivating for generations. Forest officials said 930 landowners have already been issued notice.
“In 1999 I had purchased 2.95 acres of land from the original owner who was issued title deed in 1972. Now the forest department has conducted a survey and said 1.58 acres of my land fall under private vested forest. As the tribunal ordered in my favour, the forest department has approached the High Court. How can poor farmers like me afford to fight a case in the High Court,” asked Manoj Sebastian Vezhaparambil, a farmer in Thiruvambady panchayat, Kozhikode.
He said the forest department has filed cases in the land tribunal against hundreds of farmers claiming that their certificate of purchase is invalid as the land falls under vested forest.
As per an affidavit filed before the land tribunal, the forest department said the vested forest was part of contiguous forest and loss of land will result in fragmentation of surrounding forest areas. “As per Section 22 of the Kerala Forest Act 1961, no pattayam shall be issued in forest lands without previous sanction from the government and every title deed without such sanction shall be null and void,” it said.
In the State of Kerala vs Mohammed Basheer case, the Supreme Court had held that, “the Certificate of Purchase issued under Section 72K of Land Reforms Act shall be a conclusive proof of the assignment to the tenant of the right, title and interest of the landlord and the intermediaries. The state government is bringing the bill to overcome this order. This will lead to mass eviction of farmers from forest fringe areas,” said Kerala Independent Farmers’ Association (KIFA) chairman Alex Ozhukayil.
However, the office of the forest minister said the Supreme Court had repeatedly held till 2019 that certificate of purchase cannot be held as conclusive proof for private vested forests.
A ‘SHORT’ DELAY OF 13,596 DAYS
“A delay of 13,596 days has occurred in filing the appeal due to communication, consultation, office procedure and other issues that are not willful or deliberate. The delay may be condoned or else, the state, the public and the future generation will be put to irreparable injury and loss,” reads an affidavit filed by Kozhikode DFO on an appeal seeking to cancel the title deeds issued to two farmers in Thiruvambady village of Kozhikode district.