Wayanad Rehabilitation: Kerala High Court Closes Appeal Against Acquisition Of Nedumbala Estate, Notes Govt Has Spared It 'For Now'

Kerala High Court has recently closed a writ appeal filed single judge's order allowing the State government to acquire Nedumbala estate owned by Harrisons Malayalam Limited for rehabilitation of 2024 Wayanad Landslide victims under Disaster Management Act.For context, after the landslide disaster on July 30, 2024 in the Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Puncharimattom villages in Wayanad, the State Government had decided to build a model township to rehabilitate displaced families permanently and restore the livelihood of the region. The District Collector of Wayanad had identified 65.41 hectares of Nedumbala Estate and 78.73 hectares of Elstone Tea Estates as suitable land for the purpose. The Government issued an order on October 4, 2024 giving approval to initiate proceedings for taking possession of the land. Harrisons Malayalam Limited who claims to be the owner of the Nedumbala Estate and Elstone Tea Estates Ltd. had opposed this initiative, saying that the Government cannot take over private lands by using provision of DM Act. This GO was challenged before the single judge of the high court. In December last year, high court's single judge bench held that the State can take over the Nedumbala Estate in Wayanad for rehabilitation purposes. Against this Harrisons Malayalam Limited moved the division bench in appeal. The court was informed that the state government later, by an order dated 28.02.2025, had excluded Nedumbala Estate from being acquired for the time being. The government submitted that it will come up with a fresh notice to take over the estate in future, if required.Noting the new GO, a division bench comprising Justice A Muhammed Mustaque and Justice Harisankar V Menon observed:"As per the Government Order, the Government decided to exclude the above estate for the time being. That means, in the future, if the Government requires the estate, the Government will come up with a fresh notice to the appellant to take over the estate. If such being the matter, we are of the view that as of now the appellant is not aggrieved, as their land is spared for the purpose of rehabilitation invoking the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Accordingly, the writ appeal is closed". The Court observed that since the government order (October 4, 2024) under challenge is modified, “the very substratum of the judgment no longer survives.”The bench thus recalled the single judge's judgment concerning the Nedumbala Estate as against the appellant/petitioner herein, leaving the question of law in the writ appeal open."We also reserve the Government to proceed against the appellant's estate in the future in accordance with exigency under the Disaster Management Act, 2005," the bench added. Case Title: Harrisons Malayalam Limited v State of Kerala and Ors.Case No: WA 109/ 2025Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 545Counsel for Appellants: M Gopikrishnan Nambiar, E K Nandakumar (Sr.), Joson Manavalan, K John Mathai, Kuryan Thomas, Paulose C Abraham, Raja Kannan, Nayanpally RamolaCounsel for Respondents: P Gopalakrishna Kurup (AG), S Kannan (Sr. GP), M H Hanil Kumar (Spl G P), C E Unnikrishnan (Spl. G P to AG)Click Here To Read/ Download Judgment

Wayanad Rehabilitation: Kerala High Court Closes Appeal Against Acquisition Of Nedumbala Estate, Notes Govt Has Spared It 'For Now'

Anamika MJ

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