Kerala High Court Asks Adjacent Land Owners Seeking Gate On Govt Land To Apply Under Land Conservancy Act & Rules

The Kerala High Court recently granted relief to two persons, who wanted to erect a gate on a government property that lied in between their property and the main road, by asking them to approach the Tahsildar concerned with an application as per the Kerala Land Conservancy Act and Rules.Justice Viju Abraham ruled that a Tahsildar is empowered to grant permit for erecting wall, fence, building, etc. on government property following procedures and conditions in accordance with the Act and Rules.The petitioners before the Court were two brothers, who owned two properties that were lying contiguously as a single plot. A triangular shaped plot of government road puramboke lies between their properties and the road.The petitioners said that they are using this land as a passage for ingress and egress to their properties from the main road. According to them, the puramboke land cannot be used for any purpose in light of its shape and tiny extent.One of the petitioners sought to erect a gate in the puramboke property and to have access to the road through the puramboke property. However, the application in this regard was rejected on the ground that there is no provision enabling grant of permission to erect gate in road puramboke. Aggrieved, the rejection order was challenged before the High Court.The Court examined Section 5 of the Act as well as Rules 32 to 37 of the Rules and then remarked:“Though Section 5(1) of the Act 1957 mandates that it is not lawful for any person to occupy a land which is the property of the Government, the provision permits such occupation with the permission of the Government. The provision further provides that any person desirous of erecting a wall, fence or building could do so in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence issued by the Government, for which the applicant should apply as per Section 5(3)… Tahsildar, is competent to grant such permissions following the procedures and the conditions enumerated in Section 5 of the Act, 1957, and Rules 32 to 37 of the Rules 1958.”Thus, the Court was of the opinion that the rejection order must be set aside. It granted permission to the petitioner to make an application as per Section 5 and Rules 32 to 37 within one month. Further, it directed the Tahsildar concerned to take an appropriate decision on receipt of the petitioners' application after hearing them within a further period of 3 months.Case No: WP(C) 6036 of 2021Case Title: Lifin Sebastian and Anr. v. The District Collector and Ors.Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 258Counsel for the petitioners: M.K. Aboobacker, D.M. Nowfal, A.E. Abdul Kalam, Rinooja P.A., T.M. YusaffCounsel for the respondents: Riyal Devassy – Government PleaderClick to Read/Download Judgment

Kerala High Court Asks Adjacent Land Owners Seeking Gate On Govt Land To Apply Under Land Conservancy Act & Rules

K. Salma Jennath

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