MADURAI: Criticising the lackadaisical approach of government officials in managing legal proceedings, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently dismissed an appeal filed by the commissionerate of land administration against a single judge's order directing the authorities to reclassify and grant patta to a woman for a 1.1 acre land in Kanniyakumari district.
A bench comprising Justices MS Ramesh and AD Maria Clete noted that through the above appeal, the government was indirectly trying to challenge a civil suit decree passed b Kuzhithurai sub court in favour of the woman - Mary Isabella - in 1997.
The government had failed to file an appeal against the said decree and had belatedly approached the Kanniyakumari district court in 2009 seeking to condone the delay of over 11 years.
Ironically, the government had cited the 2004 Tsunami as one of the reasons for the delay, though the civil suit decree had been passed as early as in 1997 and there was no connection between the two events, the judges noted, adding that the said application was also dismissed by the district court.
"It is concerning that the law officers representing the state have endorsed such an application in the grounds of this writ appeal, which undermines the integrity of legal processes. It is unfortunate, and remains incomprehensible how the state has chosen to file this appeal, effectively seeking to convert this court into an appellate forum to challenge a decree passed by the civil court," the judges observed.
Though the government claimed that it had rights over the property, the judges rejected it citing that the government failed to take action on time. "Safeguarding government properties demands the government's vigilance, for even a moment's lapse invites irreparable loss," the judges added.
Noting that the government had disregarded the civil court's decree without enforcing it and forced the petitioner to file a second round of litigation, the judges opined that the said action deserves imposition of cost against the government but they refrain from saddling the state exchequer, mindful that the burden of the official's lethargy should not fall upon the public coffers.
Mary Isabella owned a 2.15-acre land in Kanniyakumari. Of this, 1.23 acres was government puramboke land, leading to interference in her possession in the early 1990s. She filed a civil suit in Kuzhithurai court, which ended in her favour in 1997 and the government was told to pay `35,000 as damages for cutting down 77 yielding coconut trees during the pendency of the suit.
After over 11 years, the government filed an appeal in the Kanniyakumari district court, along with an application to condone delay, which was also dismissed in 2010. Despite this, Isabella's request seeking patta for the land was not accepted, prompting her to move the high court in 2022. This plea was allowed by a single judge of the court, challenging which the government filed the present appeal.