T.N.PEETHAMBARAN v. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR
Court: High Court of Kerala
Bench: HONOURABLE DR. JUSTICE KAUSER EDAPPAGATH
Judgment date:
Case summary
High Court of Kerala judgment dated 2024-07-30. T.N.PEETHAMBARAN v. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR. Read the judgment and case details on LawSphereX.
Judgment text
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR. JUSTICE KAUSER EDAPPAGATH TH TUESDAY, THE 30 DAY OF JULY 2024 / 8TH SRAVANA, 1946 WP(C) NO. 2355 OF 2024 PETITIONER: T. N. PEETHAMBARAN AGED 78 YEARS S/O LATE NARAYANAN, ARUNAPURAM HOUSE, N. E. WARD, VAIKOM, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT. , PIN – 686141 BY ADV ARUN THOMAS RESPONDENTS: 1 THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR COLLECTORATE, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT, PIN – 686002 2 THE TAHSILDAR (LR) TALUK OFFICE, VAIKOM, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT, PIN – 686141 3 THE TALUK SURVEYOR TALUK OFFICE, VAIKOM, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT. , PIN – 686141 4 THE VILLAGE OFFICER UDAYANAPURAM VILLAGE, PADINJAREKARA P. O VAIKOM TALUK, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT. , PIN – 686146 5 SRI. SOORAJ KUMAR S/O MANIKANDAN NAIR, LAKSHMI VILASOM, N. E. WARD, VAIKOM, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT. , PIN – 686141 6 THE DISTRICT SURVEY SUPERINTENDENT ( SOUGHT TO BE IMPLEADED ) O/O.
THE DISTRICT SURVEY SUPERINTENDENT, KOTTAYAM, KOTTAYAM KUMILY ROAD, NEAR COLLECTORATE MAIN HALL, COLLECTORATE, KOTTAYAM PIN – 686002 ( SOUGHT TO BE IMPLEADED ) OTHER PRESENT: B. S. Syamanthak, GP WP(C) No. 2355 of 2024 2 THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 30. 07. 2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: WP(C) No. 2355 of 2024 3 JUDGMENT The petitioner claims that he is the owner in possession of 26. 99 cents of land in Survey No. 108/6 in Udayanapuram th Village, which shares a boundary with the property of the 5 respondent. He preferred Ext. P4 application, as early as on nd 21. 05. 2018, to the 2 respondent to fix the dividing boundary th between his property and that of the 5 respondent. The said application was dismissed as per Ext. P5 order on the ground that, though an intimation was given to the petitioner to nd appear before the office of the 2 respondent, he failed to appear.
Thereafter, the petitioner submitted another application seeking the same relief. Ext. P6 is the Chalan rd receipt for the said application. The 3 respondent gave notice to the petitioner intimating that he would inspect the rd property to conduct survey on 15. 03. 2019. The 3 respondent also directed the petitioner to produce the tax receipts of the neighboring properties to conduct and complete the survey. The petitioner, by way of Ext. P8 letter WP(C) No. 2355 of 2024 4 nd addressed to the 2 respondent, expressed his inability to produce the tax receipts of the properties belonging to strangers. Thereafter, the petitioner approached the Taluk Legal Services Committee to get the survey done. Due to the intervention of the Taluk Legal Services Committee, another notice was issued. According to the petitioner, neither the inspection was conducted nor was the surveying done. nd However, the 2 respondent intimated the Secretary, Taluk rd Legal Services Committee, that on 31. 12.
2019, the 3 respondent inspected the property of the petitioner, measured it and fixed the boundary. When the petitioner filed an application under the Right to Information Act to obtain the plan of the property, the petitioner was served with Exts. P12 and P13. But Ext. P12 was found to be the plan for the property belonging to his son and Ext. P13 was found to be in th respect of the property belonging to the 5 respondent. Thus, it was found that the boundaries of the petitioner’s property were not fixed as prayed for by the petitioner. Again, the WP(C) No. 2355 of 2024 5 petitioner approached the Taluk Legal Services Committee. nd At the direction of the Taluk Legal Services Committee, the 2 respondent informed the petitioner that the Head Surveyor would inspect the property on 23. 06. 2023, as per Ext. P16. According to the petitioner, thereafter, nothing took place. 2.
It is in these circumstances that the petitioner has approached this Court to get his property surveyed and to fix th the dividing boundary between his property and the 5 respondent. 3. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned Government Pleader. th 4. Notice has been affixed on the house of the 5 respondent by the Special Messenger deputed by this Court. Even though, Adv. Harishankar N. Unni proposed vakalath for th the 5 respondent, no vakalath has been filed. There is no th representation for the 5 respondent also. 5. The learned Government Pleader, on instructions, nd submits that even though the 2 respondent issued notice to WP(C) No. 2355 of 2024 6 th the petitioner as well as the 5 respondent to be present at the property on 04. 08. 2023 at 11 am to survey the property by th the Head Surveyor, since, the 5 respondent was absent, survey could not be undertaken.
The Government Pleader th further submits that the presence of the 5 respondent or his agent is necessary to complete the survey, inasmuch as what is sought to be fixed is the dividing boundary between the th petitioner and the 5 respondent. However, for the reason th that the 5 respondent does not cooperate with the survey, nd the 2 respondent or the surveying authority cannot abstain from their duty to complete the survey of the property of the petitioner as requested by him. Hence, this writ petition is disposed of as follows: i) The respondents 2, 3 and 6 are directed to conduct and complete the survey of the petitioner’s property within five months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. th ii) The respondents 2, 3 and 6 shall give notice to the 5 respondent intimating the date scheduled for the survey. If WP(C) No.
2355 of 2024 7 th the 5 respondent fails to cooperate with the survey, the respondents 2, 3 and 6 are directed to complete the survey in th the absence of the 5 respondent, as if he has no objection, and fix the dividing boundary of the petitioner’s property and th the 5 respondent, in accordance with the law. Sd/- DR. KAUSER EDAPPAGATH JUDGE STB 8 APPENDIX OF WP(C) 2355/2024 PETITIONER EXHIBITS TRUE COPY OF THE TAX RECEIPTS ISSUED BY THE UDAYANAPURAM VILLAGE DATED 13-10-2021.
TRUE COPY OF THE SKETCH PREPARED BY THE SURVEY DEPARTMENT TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER ON 22-06- 2017 BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION DATED 21-5-2018 SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT TRUE COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION DATED 8-11-2018 ISSUED BY THE TAHSILDAR (LR), VAIKOM TALUK TRUE COPY OF THE RECEIPT SHOWING THE REMITTANCE OF STATUTORY FEE REMITTED BEFORE THE SUB TREASURY, VAIKOM DATED 19-2-2019 TRUE COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION RECEIVED BY THE PETITIONER DATED 15- 03-2019 TRUE COPY OF THE COMPLAINT SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER DATED 19-6-2019 BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT TRUE COPY OF THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT RECEIPT ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER SUBMITTED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT BEFORE THE TALUK LEGAL SERVICES COMMITTEE, VAIKOM DATED 09/04/2021 TRUE COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION DATED 5-9-2022 ISSUED BY THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER OF THE 2ND RESPONDENT'S OFFICE TRUE COPY OF THE SKETCH OF THE SURVEY NO-108/3PT OBTAINED BY PETITIONER AFTER REMITTANCE OF THE REQUISITE FEE TRUE COPY OF THE SKETCH OF THE PROPERTY OF THE 5TH RESPONDENT WP(C) No.
2355 of 2024 9 PREPARED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT DATED 19-09-2022. Exhibit P14 TRUE COPY OF THE PETITION PREFERRED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE TALUK LEGAL SERVICES COMMITTEE, VAIKOM DATED 25- 11-2022 IN AP. 1493/2018 Exhibit P15 TRUE COPY OF THE PETITION PREFERRED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE TALUK LEGAL SERVICES COMMITTEE, VAIKOM DATED 03- 01-2023 IN AP. 1493/2018 Exhibit 16 COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION DATED 23-06- 2023 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT. Exhibit P17 COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION DATED 21-07- 2023 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.
Source: High Court of Kerala. Dataset: Dattam Labs. CC BY 4.0. Text extracted automatically; compare with the source PDF for layout and accuracy.