Sujeevan vs The Superintendent of Police and Others

Surendra Mohan, J.—The petitioner has approached this Court for Police protection as well as for an order directing the Land Tribunal, Thrissur to pass final orders in SM No. : 224/2002 pending before it.

According to the petitioner he along with his mother and sister are the owners in possession of 89 cents of land in Survey No. :32/1C of Perinjanam village. The property was obtained by the petitioner and others as per a partition deed of 1982. Originally the predecessor in interest of the petitioner had obtained the property along with other properties as per purchase certificate No. : 568/1977 of the Land Tribunal, Kodungallur. The petitioner is cultivating the property with coconuts and arecanuts and taking income therefrom.

Respondents 4 to 7 claimed that they had obtained title to about 10 cents of land out of the said property. When the above claim was put forward, the petitioner, his mother and sister filed O.S.170/1995 before the Munsiff''s Court, Kodungallur for a decree of permanent injunction against respondents 4 to 7. Ext.P2 is a copy of the interim order of injunction passed in the said suit. In the suit, respondents 4 and 5 entered appearance and claimed that they had obtained purchase certificate in respect of a portion of the property as per order in SM No. : 124/1994. Since tenancy right was claimed in respect of the property, the Civil Court referred the matter to the Thrissur Land Tribunal for adjudication u/s 125 of the Kerala Land Reforms Act. The matter was referred to the Land Tribunal as early as in the year 1997. Meanwhile the petitioner initiated proceedings to set aside the purchase certificate issued to respondents 4 and 5 by filing an appeal before the Land Reforms Appellate Authority, Thrissur. Accordingly the Appellate Authority set aside the Patta issued to respondents 4 and 5 and remitted the matter to the Thrissur Land Tribunal for fresh consideration. The matter was taken up by the Land Tribunal as SM 324/2002 and was heard jointly with the reference made by the Munsiff''s Court in O.S.170/95. Though the matter has been heard, the complaint is that no orders are passed by the Land Tribunal in the said proceedings. Therefore, the petitioner prays for appropriate directions to see that the final orders are passed by the Land Tribunal in the matter expeditiously. The petitioner also claims Police protection for taking usufructs from the property complaining that he is being obstructed by respondents 4 to 7. Since the dispute has been pending before the Civil Court from 1995 onwards and since the rights of the petitioner as well as respondents 4 to 7 are being adjudicated upon, it is not appropriate to pass any orders in the matter so as to tilt the balance in favour of one of the parties. However, the writ petition can be disposed of granting the second prayer for an expeditious disposal of the proceedings pending before the Land Tribunal, Thrissur.

The writ petition is disposed of accordingly, directing the eighth respondent, Land Tribunal, Thrissur, to pass final orders on SM No. : 224/2002 as expeditiously as possible, at any rate, within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment.

The petitioner shall produce a copy of this judgment before the Land Tribunal, Thrissur, for compliance.