Allowed

Sahajan.M.E v. the Revenue Divisional Officer

Kerala HC3 Dec 2019WP(C)/14596/2019

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Two writ petitions seeking validation of land reassessment under Kerala Land Tax Act without remitting fees under the Paddy Land Act. The Court held that valid KLU Orders exempt owners from Section 27A fee requirements.

What did the court decide?

Petitioners granted liberty to move competent Tahsildar under Section 6A of the Kerala Land Tax Act within one month for reassessment of their properties.

Sahajan.M.E Vs the Revenue Divisional Officer — Land Acquisition | Kerala HC (2019)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN

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TUESDAY, THE 03RD DAY OF DECEMBER 2019 / 12TH AGRAHAYANA, 1941

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WP(C).No.14596 OF 2019(Y)

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PETITIONER/S:

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1 SAHAJAN.M.E, AGED 51 YEARS S/O.KUNHIRAMAN NAMBIA, RESIDING AT SADEVAM ANJAMPEEDIKA.P.O, KANNUR DISTRICT, PIN-670331

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2 RAVEENDRAN.K.P., AGED 50 YEARS S/O.BALAKRISHNA PISHARADI, RESIDING AT DARSHANA, ANJAMPEEDIKA.P.O, KANNUR DISTRICT, PIN-670331

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BY ADVS. SHRI.JAWAHAR JOSE SMT.CISSY MATHEWS SRI.SARUN RAJAN

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RESPONDENT/S:

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1 THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER TALIPARAMB,A TALIPARAMBA P.O, KANNUR PIN-670141

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2 THE VILLAGE OFFICER, KALLAIASSERI, KALLIASSERI.P.O, KANNUR-PIN 670562

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R1-2 BY GOVERNMENT PLEADER JAFFAR KHAN -G.P

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THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 03.12.2019, ALONG WITH WP(C).14625/2019(C), THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN

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TUESDAY, THE 03RD DAY OF DECEMBER 2019 / 12TH AGRAHAYANA, 1941

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WP(C).No.14625 OF 2019(C)

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PETITIONER/S:

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SHOPPRIX INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, PAYYANNUR P.O, KERALA, PIN-670 307, REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR, MR. MUHAMMAD SHERIFOOL MADANI.

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BY ADVS. SHRI.JAWAHAR JOSE SMT.CISSY MATHEWS SRI.SARUN RAJAN

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RESPONDENT/S:

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1 THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, TALIPARAMBA, TALIPARAMBA P.O, KANNUR, PIN-670 141

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2 THE VILLAGE OFFICER, KALLIASSERI, KALLIASSERI P.O, KANNUR, PIN-670 562

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R1-2 BY GOVERNMENT PLEADER SRI.JAFFAR KHAN

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THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 03.12.2019, ALONG WITH WP(C).14596/2019(Y), THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

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JUDGMENT

I am considering these two Writ Petitions

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jointly, since the factual factors and

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circumstances involved are similar, if not identical and the reliefs sought for in them are also analogous to each other.

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WP(C)No.14625/2019 has been filed by a

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company by name 'Shopprix India Private Ltd', which is stated to be one registered under the provisions of the Companies Act; while WP(C)No.14596/2019 has been filed by

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Sri.Sahajan M.E. and another; and both of them

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claim that they are entitled to have

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reassessment of their property under the Kerala Land Tax Act, 1961, without having to pay any amounts as required under Section 27A of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act ((herein after referred to as 'the Paddy Land Act' for short).

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The petitioners in both these cases are

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stated to be owning properties of different extents in various survey numbers in Kalyassery Village and say that their predecessors-ininterest had obtained orders from the District Collector/Revenue Divisional Officer under the provisions of Clause 6 of the Kerala Land Utilisation Order (KLU order for short), with respect to it, thus being entitled to put it to

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use for purposes other than paddy cultivation.

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The petitioners say that, however, when

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the Paddy Land Act was brought into force, these properties were incorrectly included in the Data Bank prepared by the Local Level Monitoring Committee (LLMC for short); and that they, therefore, approached this Court and obtained Ext.P5 judgment in both cases, wherein directions had been issued to the LLMC to consider their applications to remove their respective properties from the Data Bank, which culminated in Ext.P6 proceedings of the said

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Committee, wherein the properties in question

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were ordered to be excluded from the Data Bank

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and that it has been so done.

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The petitioners say that, therefore, as matters now stand, their properties are governed by the order issued by the District Collector under the KLU order and consequently, that they are not obligated to approach the RDO or any other Authorities under the Paddy Land Act, but can have the properties reassessed by the concerned Officer under the Kerala Land Tax

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Act, 1961. They say that they have been, however, constrained to approach this Court,

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since the said Authority has refused to consider their application without them first remitting the amounts required under Section 27A of the Paddy Land Act; and thus pray that

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the said Authority be directed to do so without

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imposing such illegal and untenable preconditions.

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Sri.Jaffar Khan, learned Government

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Pleader appearing on behalf of the official respondents, submits that it may be true that

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the predecessors-in-interest of the petitioners had obtained an order under the KLU Order from the District Collector in the year 2006, which was confirmed by the Land Revenue Commissioner thereafter. He says that however, once the properties were included as a 'paddy land' in the Data Bank prepared by the LLMC under the

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provisions of the Paddy Land Act, such permissions would become otiose and that the petitioners will, thereupon, be required to

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take permission from the RDO under Section 27A of the Paddy Land Act. He says, therefore, that the conditions imposed against the petitioners, to remit the amounts under Section 27A of the

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Paddy Land Act, cannot be found to be

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untenable; and therefore, prays that this Writ Petition be dismissed.

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I have analysed the afore submissions

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and have closely examined the materials available on record.

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I am afraid that I cannot find favour

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with the submissions now made by the learned Government Pleader because, it is conceded before me that the properties involved in these cases was already enjoying an order issued by the District Collector under the KLU Order, as early as in the year 2006 and that this order was confirmed by the Land Revenue Commissioner soon thereafter. That being so, the inclusion of these properties in the Data Bank prepared

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under the Paddy Land Act would be of no consequence, particularly when the LLMC has, through Ext.P6, found that such inclusion was incorrect and on the basis of error. Therefore,

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this particular factum would not change the position with respect to the properties in question and they continue to be covered by the

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KLU Order earlier issued by the District Collector.

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Axiomatically, thus once the properties

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have been formally removed from the Data Bank, as is evidenced from Ext.P6 in both these cases, the only question is whether the Authorities can still demand that the

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petitioners must remit the requisite amounts under Section 27A of the Paddy Land Act, for the purpose of reassessing it under the Kerala Land Tax Act.

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I am certain that this issue has

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already been found in favour of the petitioners

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by this Court in several cases and the declaration of law emphatically made in past judgments is that when an owner of a land is enjoying the same on the strength of a KLU Order, then he will be entitled to move the

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competent Tahsildar under Section 6A of the Kerala Land Tax Act, 1961, for which purpose,

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no remittance of fee as required under Section

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27A of the Paddy Land Act would be necessary.

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This is more so in these cases,

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because, as is manifest from Ext.P4 judgment, produced in both of them, obtained by the petitioners earlier from this Court, Ext.P6

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proceedings had been noticed and subsequent proceedings thereafter issued under the

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provisions of Section 12(2)(B) of the Paddy Land Act had been interdicted.

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Resultantly and for the reasons above, I

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order these Writ Petitions and leave liberty to the petitioners to move the competent Tahsildar

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under Section 6A of the Kerala Land Tax Act, 1961; and if such applications are made within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment, the said Authority will consider the same and issue appropriate

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orders thereon after following due procedure and after considering all relevant and germane

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inputs.

Sd/-

DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN

JUDGE

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APPENDIX OF WP(C) 14596/2019

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PETITIONER'S/S EXHIBITS:

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EXHIBIT P1	TRUE COPY OF THE REGISTERED SALE DEED
	DATED 7-5-2018 EXECUTED BY C.VISNUBHAKTHAN IN FAVOUR OF THE PETITIONERS
EXHIBIT P2	TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 21.3.2006 ISSUED BY THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, THALASSERY
EXHIBIT P3	TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 19.4.2007 ISSUED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF LAND REVENUE, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
EXHIBIT P4	TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 6.7.2015 IN WP(C)NO.30421/2010 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT
EXHIBIT P5	TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 21.2.2017 IN WP(C0NO.25832/2016 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT
EXHIBIT P6	TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE DATED 21.3.2017 ISSUED BY THE CONVENER OF LOCAL LEVEL MONITORING COMMITTEE, KALLIASSERI.
EXHIBIT P7	TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 20/07/2017 SUBMITTED BY THE PREDECESSORS OF THE PETITIONERS BEFORE THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, THALASSERY, FOR CHANGING THE CLASSIFICATION OF LAND IN THE BASIC TAX REGISTER AND ALSO FOR INITIATING A FRESH ASSESSMENT UNDER THE KERALA LAND TAX ACT.
EXHIBIT P8	TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 03/10/2018 SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONERS BEFORE THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, THALASSERY, FOR CHANGING THE CLASSIFICATION OF LAND IN THE BASIC TAX REGISTER AND ALSO

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FOR INITIATING A FRESH ASSESSMENT UNDER THE KERALA LAND TAX ACT. EXHIBIT P9 TRUE COPY OF THE COVERING LETTER DATED 21/03/2019 AND ALSO THE APPLICATION IN FORM 9 OF THE KERALA CONSERVATION OF PADDY AND WET LAND ACT SUBMITTED BEFORE THE 1ST RESPONDENT. EXHIBIT P10 TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE DATED 13/9/2019 ISSUED BY THE THEN JURISDICATIONAL REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER EXHIBIT P11 TRUE COPY OF THE BUILDNG PERMIT DATED 11/8/2005 ISSUED BY THE KALLIASSERI GRAMA PANCHAYAT EXHIBIT P12 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 28/6/2006 IN WPC NO.15146/2006 OF THIS HON'BLE COUT. EXHIBIT P13 TRUE COPY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SUBJECT PROPERTY TAKEN IN THE YEAR 2006 RESPONDENT'S/S EXHIBITS: EXHIBIT R1 A A TRUE COPY OF THE SATELLITE IMAGES OF THE LAND IN QUESTION. EXHIBIT R1B TRUE COPY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

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APPENDIX OF WP(C) 14625/2019

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PETITIONER'S/S EXHIBITS:

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EXHIBIT P1	TRUE COPY OF THE REGISTERED SALE DEED DATED 8.8.2017 EXECUTED BY PREM RAVEENDRAN AND D. RAJESH KUMAR IN FAVOUR OF THE PETITIONER COMPANY.
EXHIBIT P2	TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 21.3.2006 ISSUED BY THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, THALASSERY.
EXHIBIT P3	TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 19.4.2007 ISSUED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF LAND REVENUE, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.
EXHIBIT P4	TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 6.7.2015 IN W.P.(C) NO. 30421/2010 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT.
EXHIBIT P5	TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 21.2.2017 IN W.P.(C) NO. 25832/2016 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT.
EXHIBIT P6	TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE DATED 21.3.2017 ISSUED BY THE CONVENER OF LOCAL LEVEL MONITORING COMMITTEE, KALLIASSERI.
EXHIBIT P7	TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 20.7.2017 SUBMITTED BY THE PREDECESSORS OF THE PETITIONER COMPANY BEFORE THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, THALASSERY, FOR CHANGING THE CLASSIFICATION OF LAND IN THE BASIC TAX REGISTER AND ALSO FOR INITIATING A FRESH ASSESSMENT UNDER THE KERALA LAND TAX ACT.
EXHIBIT P8	TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 3.10.2018 SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER COMPANY ALONG WITH ANOTHER PERSON BEFORE THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, THALASSERY, FOR CHANGING THE CLASSIFICATION OF LAND IN THE BASIC TAX REGISTER AND ALSO FOR INITIATING A FRESH ASSESSMENT UNDER THE KERALA LAND TAX ACT.

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EXHIBIT P9	TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 8.10.2018 SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER COMPANY BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT FOR CHANGING THE CLASSIFICATION OF LAND IN THE BASIC TAX REGISTER AND ALSO FOR INITIATING A FRESH ASSESSMENT UNDER THE KERALA LAND TAX ACT.
EXHIBIT P10	TRUE COPY OF THE COVERING LETTER DATED 21.3.2019 AND ALSO THE APPLICATION IN FORM 9 OF THE KERALA CONSERVATION OF PADDY LAND AND WET LAND ACT SUBMITTED BEFORE THE 1ST RESPONDENT.
EXHIBIT P11	TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE DATED 13.09.2010 ISSUED BY THE THEN JURISDICTIONAL REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER
EXHIBIT P12	TRUE COPY OF THE BUILDING PERMIT DATED 1.08.2005 ISSUED BY THE KALLIASSERI GRAMA PANCHAYATH
EXHIBIT P13	TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 28.06.2006 IN WP(C)NO.15146/2006 OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT
EXHIBIT P14	TRUE COPY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SUBJECT PROPERTY TAKEN IN THE YEAR 2006
EXHIBIT P15	TRUE COPY OF THE BUILDING PERMIT DATED 14.12.2009 ISSUED BY THE KALLAIASSERI GRAMA PANCHAYATH
EXHIBIT P16	TRUE COPY OF THE TRADE LICENCE DATED 14.07.2010 ISSUED BY THE KALLIASSERI GRAMA PANCHAYATH
EXHIBIT P17	TRUE COPY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BUILDING SITUATED IN THE SUBJECT PROPERTY

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RESPONDENT'S/S EXHIBITS:

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EXHIBIT R1(A) A TRUE COPY OF THE SATELLITE IMAGES OF THE LAND IN QUESTION. EXHIBIT R1(B) TRUE COPY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS.

Sahajan.M.E v. the Revenue Divisional Officer

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Sahajan.M.E v. the Revenue Divisional Officer

Case brief

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What did the court decide?

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