KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Monday quashed the order of the Idukki District Collector preventing the Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company from using 21 bungalows under its custody for tourism purposes. The court made it clear that the company is entitled to use the bungalows subject to the condition that necessary licences are obtained.
Justice K Surendra Mohan passed the order on a petition filed by the company challenging the stop memo issued by the district collector. The company submitted that the government had no jurisdiction to interfere with the decisions of the panchayats. It had not pointed out any particular violation of the lease agreement. There was lack of substance in the stand of the government. Nothing legally prevented the company from using the bungalows lying vacant in plantations for tourism purposes when admittedly the entire plantation activities continued, the petitioner submitted.
The court said that the petitioners are in possession of the tea estates and the buildings that form part of their holdings with valid documents. There was no restriction regarding the use of land for any purpose found in any of the documents.
The court pointed out that there was no dispute that there are bungalows in the tea estates of the petitioners. No new construction was proposed. The case of the petitioners was that since the estate bungalows remain unused, their plan is to use them for foreign tourists by projecting ‘plantation tourism’.