KOTTAYAM: Even as the state government is going forward with the construction of the Sabarimala International Airport in Erumely, the sub-court in Pala is set to consider a civil case regarding the dispute over the ownership of Cheruvally Estate, the primary site for the proposed airport project, on Saturday.
Kottayam district collector had filed the civil suit against Ayana Charitable Trust (formerly Gospel for Asia) owned by the late Bishop K P Yohannan in Pala sub-court in 2019 challenging its ownership rights over the 2,263.18-acre Cheruvally Estate following a High Court directive.
As per the case, Harrison’s Malayalam Plantations Ltd, the previous owner of the estate from which the Ayana Trust purchased the estate, did not possess proper title documents, making the transaction between the two parties illegal. Apart from Ayana Trust and Harrison’s Malayalam Plantations, Ayana’s former trustee Yohannan, and Siny Punnoose, one of his relatives, are named the defendants in the case.
Though the case trial was scheduled earlier, it was delayed due to objections raised by the defendants by filing petitions seeking various documents. In the latest petition, the defendants have demanded some documents that include papers regarding Land Board proceedings in 1970.
Meanwhile, legal experts view that filing petitions by the defendants is part of a tactic to delay the proceedings in the case. However, the government has the option to take over the property under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARRA), 2013.
According to the Act, the government must deposit the price of the land in court since ownership is in dispute. If the church can prove ownership in court, they will be entitled to receive the amount deposited.
This legal battle is just one of around 25 civil cases that the government has initiated against Harrison’s Malayalam in various courts across Kerala. The Cheruvally Estate case marks the first of these cases to be presented in court.
The Gospel for Asia Trust had purchased the estate from Harrison’s in 2005. Adv Saji Koduvath is appearing for the government in all cases related to Harrison’s Malayalam.