Madras High Court
M.Arivazhagan vs The Tahsildar on 28 August, 2024
Author: G.K.Ilanthiraiyan
Bench: G.K.Ilanthiraiyan
W.P.No.14965 of 2024
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 28.08.2024
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN
W.P.No.14965 of 2024
M.Arivazhagan ... Petitioner
Vs
1.The Tahsildar,
Vandalur Taluk Office,
Chennai 600 048
2.The President,
Panchayat of Nedunkunram,
Kolappakkam Post,
Chennai 600 127 ..... Respondents
Prayer :
Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of Constitution of India
praying for the issuance of a Writ of Mandamus directing the
respondents not to remove the temple situated at the plot No.32
according to the serial No.31 in the list of the 2nd respondent in survey
No.10/32 of the Puthur Village and within the Registration District of
Kancheepuram and Sub Registrar of Kancheepuram without due process
of law.
For Petitioner : Mr.R.Subramanian
For Respondents : Mr.S.J.Mohammed Sathik,
Government Advocate
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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
W.P.No.14965 of 2024
ORDER
This writ petition has been filed for direction to the respondents not to remove the temple situated at plot No.32 comprised in survey No.10/32 situated at Puthur Village, Kancheepuram District.
2. The petitioner had purchased the property comprised in Survey No.10/32 situated at Puthur Village, Kancheepuram District to an extent of 77 sq.mtrs from one Krishnaveni wife of Subramani. The said Krishnaveni was originally assigned with the above subject property by conditional patta dated 30.10.2000. As per the conditions assigned in the said patta, the beneficiary should not sell the property within a period of 10 years from the date of assignment. After period of 13 years, the original assignee sold out the subject property in favour of the petitioner.
After purchasing the said property, the petitioner had constructed a temple called Kalikambal and Karuppasamy for his personal worship.
While being so, the petitioner is under apprehension that he will be evicted from the subject property as if the petitioner is an encroacher in the Government poramboke land.
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3. The first respondent filed counter and the learned Government Advocate appearing for the respondents submitted that the property comprised in survey No.10/2 admeasuring 0.00.5 ares situated at Kalingnar Nagar, Puthur Village, Vandalur Taluk is classified as Government poramboke / grama natham. The total area of 1.81.5 hectares comprised in survey No.10/2 is under acquisition proceedings to form a 100 feet width bye-pass road. In fact, in a half of the portion of the subject property, the petitioner constructed a small temple and the petitioner alone is performing worships. Therefore, the petitioner is an encroacher and he shall be evicted.
4. Heard, the learned counsel appearing on either side and perused all the materials placed before this Court.
5. On perusal of records, revealed that on 30.10.2000, the petitioner's vendor was assigned the subject property comprised in survey No.10/32. As per the conditions, the assignee should not sell the property within a period of 10 years. In the year 2013, the original 3/12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.14965 of 2024 assignee sold out the subject property in favour of the petitioner by registered sale deed dated 18.09.2013 vide document No.5472 of 2013 in favour of the petitioner. After purchase, the petitioner is in possession and enjoyment of the same and also constructed a temple for his own purpose. He is performing poojas dedicated to Kalikambal and Karuppasamy. Though it is classified as grama natham, it was originally assigned in favour of one, Krishnaveni and subsequently purchased by the petitioner by the registered sale deed. That apart, the petitioner is in possession and enjoyment of the subject property by constructing a temple. Therefore, the land which is classified as grama natham cannot be termed as Government poramboke.
6. The Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court clarified this issue in WP.No.25608 of 2023 by an order dated 22.11.2023. The relevant portion of the said order is extracted hereunder:
“21. It would be clear that the Gramanatham or Natham Poramboke can be classified into three types. Firstly, the Natham which are inhabited by the villagers by putting up their house or being their pilakadai or kollai etc., which is their absolute property and the Government does not have any right, 4/12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.14965 of 2024 title or interest in the same. The second portion of the Gramanatham or those portions which may be used for communal purposes, such as street, thrashing floors etc. Once they are used for communal purposes, by virtue of Section 2 of the Act, they become the Government interest lands and as such, have to be termed as the other types of Poramboke, in which, no individuals can claim any title and any encroachment can be removed by invoking the provisions of the Act. The third type is the unoccupied portion of the Gramanatham land, in which the right is vested with the Government to regulate its occupation. The Government has the right to assign the unoccupied portion by ensuring the condition of residence eligibility etc., and it is only in this context, the Revenue Standing Orders, enabling the Government to impose conditions, assign only 3 cents lies.
22. In the above back ground, the Government of Tamil Nadu made an endeavour to bring clarity in respect of all the three types of Gramanatham by framing a scheme for assessment and collection of land revenue from the owners of Gramanatham property which is known as Natham Settlement Scheme in G.O. Ms. No.869, Commercial Taxes and Charitable Endowments Department, dated 30.09.2023, under which the persons who are already in occupation were sought to be recognised by grant of ?
Thoraya Patta? or ?Tentative Patta?. Though a majority of the occupants of natham have approached the respondents or participated in the Natham Survey and obtained the Natham 5/12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.14965 of 2024 Thoraya Patta and are paying tax, it is common knowledge that it is not a complete or exhaustive exercise as many of the owners did not participate to avoid assessment and payment of tax. Thus, merely because, the concerned occupant?s name is not reflected in the Natham Adangal, prepared in this regard, the same is not a conclusive proof that it is an unoccupied Natham or a public purpose Poramboke. However, the fact that remains that all the occupants
23. A learned Single Judge of this Court had an occasion to consider the effect of such entries in A-Register in S.Sridhar and Ors. Vs. The State of Tamil Nadu and Ors.9. It is useful to extract paragraph Nos.13.3, 13.4, 13.7, 13.8 and 13.9 which read as follows :-
“ 13.3. India has three types of properties such as (1) Agricultural; (2) Non-Agricultural; and (3) Common properties. By social practice, one can see a set of new unrecorded conventions and power structure with reference to private properties. However, private property was never documented in ancient Indian literatures. It is relevant to point out at this juncture that the Indian Land Administration derives its genesis from “Land Revenue Administration“ where every land record created aimed at tapping the Revenue to the Government.
13.4. The whole area of a Tamil village dating to ancient Chola period and thereafter, was divided into various classifications, one among which, as Poramboke lands. The 6/12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.14965 of 2024 poramboke lands are incapable of cultivation or set apart for public or communal purposes. Though there are various types of poramboke lands, in common parlance, any land that does not yield revenue, is known as poramboke land, but it is liable to tax, however the right to levy assessment on it, is given up by the Government for certain reasons. The four main classifications of waste lands under Ryotwari System that exist today, are (a) assessed (b) unassessed (c) poramboke and (d) reserved. The poramboke denotes lands set apart for public or communal purposes. They are also unassessed. The free-hold in these four classes of lands is in Government. Nattam or Grama nattam is the site on which village habitations are situated and is held free of assessment. Except the nattam poramboke, which is permitted for inhabitation, all other poramboke such as lake, river, hill, grazing ground, cattle pond, forest and similar classification of poramboke of public use or common use are completely protected from any kind of people's enjoyment.
13.7. To answer this issue, it is necessary to set out briefly the Columns found in the 'A' Register Extract. There cannot be any dispute that the entries in -A- Register do not confer title to anybody as it is not a title document and it is only a record of those particulars which are relevant to determine the land revenue due from those lands. Each one of the 12 columns of the 'A' Register signifies the extent and quantum of land revenue payable by the owners of those lands to the State.7/12
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.14965 of 2024 13.8. Column Nos. 1 and 2 denote the old and new survey numbers of the property; Column No. 3 indicates whether the title of the property is with the Government or with Ryotwari Patta Holder; Column No. 4 denotes whether it is a nanja (wet) or punja (dry) land on which land tax shall be payable or poramboke land on which no land tax is payable; Column No. 5 indicates whether two~time crops are taken or not; Column Nos. 6 and 7 indicate the quality and grade of the earth of the land; Column Nos. 8, 9 and 10 indicate the area, rate of land tax and total land tax payable with reference to the entries in Column Nos. 4 to 7; Column No. 11 indicates the name of the Ryotwari Patta Holder with reference to the entry in Column No. 3; Column No. 12 indicates the purpose for which the land has been set apart, for the purpose of waiving land revenue with reference to the entry in Column Nos. 3 and 4, as Government lands and those lands that come under the category of poramboke in Column No. 4, are exempted from the payment of land revenue and consequently give the reason for exemption from Land Revenue.
13.9. As no land revenue is payable on poramboke lands, there will be no entries in respect of those lands in Column Nos. 5 to 8, 10 and 11 of 'A' Register, whereas in the case of Ryotwari patta lands, all the columns except Column No. 12, shall have entries for the purpose of computation of appropriate land tax.” 8/12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.14965 of 2024 Thus, viewed from any angle, it can be seen that the petitioner's predecessors in title who are the original occupants of the Gramanatham land and absolute owners and merely because they chose to deduct the property towards the charitable trust and the charitable trust has put up commercial structures for augmenting income for its purpose, it will not in any manner divest the title in the petitioners.
7. Thus it is clear that the person who is in possession / occupation of the grama natham land has title over the property. Merely because the occupant's name is not reflected in the natham adangal, it is not a conclusive proof that it is an unoccupied natham or public purpose poramboke. In the case on hand, admittedly the subject land was originally assigned in favour of one, Krishnaveni and after period of 13 years, it was sold out in favour of the petitioner. Therefore, it cannot be said that the petitioner is an encroacher. Further, all the documents produced by the respondents are pertaining to the land comprised in survey No.10/2. Therefore, they are nothing to do with the subject property owned by the petitioner.
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8. In view of the above, the respondents are restrained from disturbing the peaceful possession and enjoyment of the petitioner in respect of the subject property comprised in survey No.10/32 situated at Puthur Village, Kancheepuram District. However, the respondents are at liberty to acquire the subject land in the manner known to law.
9. With the above direction, this writ petition is allowed. There shall be no order as to costs.
28.08.2024 Neutral citation: Yes/No Index: Yes/No Speaking/Non-speaking order lok 10/12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.14965 of 2024 To
1.The Tahsildar, Vandalur Taluk Office, Chennai 600 048
2.The President, Panchayat of Nedunkunram, Kolappakkam Post, Chennai 600 127 11/12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.14965 of 2024 G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN, J.
lok W.P.No.14965 of 2024 28.08.2024 12/12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis