The Supreme Court has upheld the cancellation of a ‘ryotwari patta’ issued for land recorded as a government water body in Tamil Nadu, according to the Press Trust of India.
In its October 16 judgment, a bench comprising Justices SVN Bhatti and NV Anjaria directed the Tamil Nadu government to provide a suitable alternative site to the owners of 20 flats before demolishing their apartments.
A ryotwari patta is an official land and revenue record granted to an individual cultivator, recognising the right to occupy and cultivate a specific plot while paying land revenue directly to the government.
Justice Bhatti, who authored the judgment, observed that official orders and revenue records had led the flat owners to believe that the state government had no claim over the land.
The bench said demolishing the apartments without considering the hardship faced by the owners and the independent legal remedies available to them against the landowner and developer could cause irreparable financial losses and leave families homeless.
To reduce the potential hardship without violating Section 14-A of the Tamil Nadu Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948, the court directed the state’s Chief Secretary and the Tiruvallur District Collector to allot the flat owners, represented by their society, a vacant site of comparable suitability. The court said this should preferably be completed within six months, after which the structures occupying 0.22 acres should be demolished.
According to PTI, the verdict dismissed three civil appeals filed by a flat owner and Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank Ltd. The appeals challenged the cancellation of the patta and subsequent orders requiring the land to be restored as a water body.
The dispute involved a plot identified by a particular survey number in Thirumullaivoyal village in Tiruvallur district. The 1911 resettlement register classified the land as “Government Poramboke – Kanakkan Kuttai”.
The disputed portion formed part of a larger 1.68-acre property. The controversy arose after the Tiruvallur district revenue officer granted a ryotwari patta covering 0.72 acres to P Ramadoss in January 2011.
The land was subsequently involved in property transactions and development activities, including the construction of 20 residential flats. Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank also extended credit facilities worth Rs 3.40 crore against a mortgage created over the property.
In December 2019, the commissioner of land administration cancelled the patta after concluding that it had been issued in violation of the relevant legal provisions. The Madras High Court later upheld the cancellation and ordered the removal of unauthorised structures and restoration of the water body.
While dismissing the appeals, the Supreme Court noted that the earliest revenue records identified the property as a tank and government poramboke land, rather than ryoti land eligible for a patta. The court said the appellants had failed to establish that the property qualified for such a grant under the 1948 Tamil Nadu Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act.
The Supreme Court therefore upheld the cancellation of the patta and the restoration of the land as a water body. However, it directed the state government to provide the flat owners with a suitable alternative site before proceeding with the demolition of their apartments.
