Regulation of construction in assigned lands should not be limited to Idukki, SC tells Kerala govt

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that the regulation of commercial construction on assigned land should not be limited to Idukki district. 

The Supreme Court also dismissed the petition filed by Kerala against the High Court order which stated that rules mentioned in the Kerala Land Assignment Rules should be implemented across the state. SC asked the state government if there weren’t assigned land in other districts.

The SC bench consisting of Justice Abdul Naseer and Justice Sanjay Khanna asked how this regulation can be limited to a single district. The apex court also refused to intervene in the contempt of court petition filed by the High Court against the government for not implementing its order.

The state government’s advocate argued that the order to implement the law in all the assigned land is an intrusion into the Legislative authority of the state government. The government also pointed out that it will be hard to implement the order which demanded issuing possession certificates within a week after clarifying why the land was being handed over.

Senior advocate P Chidambaram and Mathew Kuzhalnandan, who appeared for the opposing party, said that regulating construction in Idukki district alone is a violation of article 14 of the constitution. The opposing parties, Laly George and Athijeevana Poratta Vedi, was represented by KMNP Law, which came to the spotlight following the Masala bond controversy.

Kerala High Court had issued an order against implementing Kerala Land Assignment Rules only in Idukki and 8 villages. The High Court also asked the state government to implement the law across the state in order to stop the violation of land assignment rules. With the latest order from the Supreme Court, the state government will have to implement Kerala Land Assignment Rules across the state.