In a significant order, the Madras High Court on Friday directed the Chief Secretary to identify all old State enactments that had outlived their purpose and take steps to repeal those laws in consultation with the State Law Commission. The court ordered that the entire exercise must be completed within three months.
Justice M. Dhandapani issued the direction while dismissing multiple claims for title, under the Tamil Nadu Inam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act of 1948, over 1.49 acre of prime land worth several crore rupees at Koyambedu in Chennai despite it having been acquired by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board way back in 1967.
Since the ryotwari (agricultural) lands had lost their character over the years, the judge ordered that no application for issuance of ‘ryotwari patta’ should be entertained by lower level officers in the State and any such application should be placed before the Special Commissioner and the Commissioner for Land Administration for appropriate orders.
The court barred Assistant Settlement Officers/Settlement Officers, as provided under Section 5 of the 1948 Act and similar provisions under the Tamil Nadu Estates Land Act of 1908, from functioning and entertaining any petition relating to the issuance of ‘ryotwari patta’. The government was directed to issue necessary instructions to them in this regard.
All applications already pending consideration before the Assistant Settlement Officers/Settlement Officers shall stand transferred to the file of the Special Commissioner and the Commissioner for Land Administration for consideration and appropriate action, the judge said.
He also ordered that all data related to ryoti lands be digitized forthwith upon verification and reconciliation with the records available with the Land Administration Department. In case of any error or ambiguity, notices should be issued to the individuals concerned to produce the relevant records for correction of data.
After such reconciliation and correction of data, ‘patta’ should be issued to the individuals concerned and digital copies of the same should be uploaded on government websites, akin to the encumbrance certificates, so that the landowners concerned could verify the details and download the documents, Justice Dhandapani ordered.
