Supreme Court cancels patta on Tamil Nadu water body, protects flat owners

The Supreme Court has upheld the cancellation of a ‘ryotwari patta’ granted for land recorded as a government water body in Tamil Nadu, news agency Press Trust of India reported.A bench of Justices SVN Bhatti and NV Anjaria, in its judgment delivered on October 16, directed the state government to allot a suitable alternative site to the owners of 20 flats before demolishing their apartments.A ‘ryotwari patta’ is an official revenue and land record issued to an individual cultivator, certifying the right to occupy and cultivate a specific piece of land while paying land tax directly to the government.Justice Bhatti, who wrote the judgment for the bench, said the flat owners were led to believe, because of official orders and revenue records, that the state government had no interest in the land.“Therefore, directing the demolition of flats without examining the hardship of the flat owners and the independent remedies available to them in law against the owner of the land and the developer of the apartments would cause irreparable financial injury and throw the families on the streets,” the bench said.“In the circumstances of the case, to ameliorate the possible hardship and, without committing a breach of Section 14-A of the Tamil Nadu Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948, we direct the Chief Secretary, State of Tamil Nadu, and the District Collector, Tiruvallur, to allot a vacant, commensurate site to the owners of the flats represented by the Society, preferably within 6 months from today, and thereafter to undertake the demolition of the constructed area to an extent of 0.22 acres,” it added.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 directions to restore the land as a water body.The case concerned land under a particular survey number at Thirumullaivoyal village in Tiruvallur district. It was recorded in the 1911 resettlement register as “Government Poramboke – Kanakkan Kuttai”.The disputed land was part of a larger 1.68-acre plot. The controversy began after the Tiruvallur district revenue officer granted a ryotwari patta for 0.72 acres to P Ramadoss in January 2011.The land was later used for property transactions and development, including the construction of 20 residential flats.

Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank also provided credit facilities of Rs 3.40 crore against a mortgage created over the land.In December 2019, the commissioner of land administration cancelled the patta after finding that it had been granted in violation of the applicable legal provisions. The Madras High Court later upheld the cancellation and directed the removal of unauthorised structures and restoration of the water body.Rejecting the appeals, the Supreme Court observed that the earliest revenue records classified the land as a tank and government poramboke, rather than ryoti land eligible for a patta.

The court said the appellants had not established that the land qualified for such a grant under the Tamil Nadu Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948.The Supreme Court thus upheld the cancellation of the patta and the restoration of the land as a water body, while directing the Tamil Nadu government to provide a suitable alternative site to the flat owners before demolishing the apartments.- Ends