A PIL seeking to retrieve 48.28 acres of government land from encrochers in Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district was filed in the Madurai bench of the Madras High court today.
Justices V Ramasubramaniam and V M Velumani directed to implead the encroachers of the land and posted the case for hearing to next week on a PIL filed by district president of CPI(ML) S M Anthnony Muthu.
The petitioner submitted that the land was given by erstwhile rulers of Travancore to "Arachar" (an official who makes arrangements for hanging a convict).
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After Kanyakumari district was annexed with Tamil Nadu and the provisions of "Madras Minor Inam Abolition Act a systems used to collect revenues from land came to govern the lands, the lands were gifted to the Arachar family from march 1965. Patta was issued for the lands gifted to the Aarachar families under provisions of the act.
Then series of litigations were held and the court said the Arachars lands belonged to the government and invalidated all the ryotwari pattas issues to the Arachars. But the government did not take possesion of land though the court orders were issued in 1992.
The petitioner said some perons were trying to encroach and sell the lands. Various social activists and the petitoner sent petitions to the government to takeover the land and put them to public use.But they had not taken any action.
