CHENNAI: When a patta is altered or mutated based on an error, misrepresentation, or without a valid source of title, the revenue official is duty bound, under the Tamil Nadu Patta Pass Book Act, to rectify the anomaly and restore the entries to their original undisputed position, said the Madras High Court.
The observation was made by Justice Krishnan Ramasamy while issuing orders on a petition filed by S Vasudevan of Vellore to remove the names of three of his relatives from the patta for his inherited land since such names were entered without valid title rights.
The petitioner contended that his father inherited 1.83 acres of land in Kannamangalam village by a partition deed in 1971. Since then, the property has been in the possession and enjoyment of his father. The property was settled to him and his siblings, and he later settled his share to his children by a deed in 2012.
When he came to know that his relatives K Gunasekaran, K Rajan and K Kannan, of Kannamangalam village in Arni taluk, obtained patta without a valid title over the property in 2018, he approached the Arni tahsildar for removing their names from the patta. The tahsildar disposed of his representation by asking him to approach the civil court. Aggrieved over this, he approached the high court.
Referring to the claim of these three people that they inherited the land in question through an oral partition deed, the judge said the parties claiming a right outside the registered deed must approach the civil court to prove their title.
He ordered cancellation of the patta issued to the three and to restore the original patta in the name of the petitioner. However, the aggrieved are free to seek remedy before the civil court, the order added.