Land Tribunal

Adv.Anu Thomas FCC

2/2/2024

Constitution of Land Tribunal

The Kerala Land Reforms Act 1963 empowers the Government to constitute one or more Land
Tribunals for any area or for any class for performing the function of the Land Tribunal under the Act
[Section 99 (1)].
The Land Tribunal shall consist of a sole member who shall be a judicial officer of the rank of a
Munsiff or an officer not below the rank of a Tahsildar appointed by the Govt.
The Act also empowers the government to constitute as many appellate authorities as may be
necessary. It also provides that the appellate authority shall consist of a sole member who shall be a
judicial officer not below the rank of a subordinate judge or an officer not below the rank of a deputy
collector [Section 99 (A)].
Jurisdiction of each appellate authority shall be fixed by government by notification [section 99 A
(3)].

Land Board

The act empowers the government to constitute a Land Board for the purpose of the Act. The
Board shall consist of a sole member who shall be an officer not below the rank of secretary to
government. Alternatively the Board can be constituted with three members [Section 100(1)].
Where the Board consist of three members, the members shall be:
● An officer not below the rank of Secretary to Government, who shall be the chairman;
● A judicial officer not below the rank of a district judge ;
● An officer of the government nominated by the Govt. [section 100(2)].
The functions of the Board will be exercised by a Bench consisting of all members or by a Bench
consisting of two members constituted by the chairman [Section 100(3)].
Where the Bench consists of three members the decision will be taken on the basis of majority
opinion. Where the Board consists of two members and the members differ in any point, the point of
difference shall be decided according to the opinion of the third member [ Section 100(3)(b) and (c)].

Taluk Land Boards

The Act empowers the Govt. to constitute Taluk Land Boards [Section 100 A (1)].
A Taluk Board consists of :
● An officer not below the rank of Deputy Collector, who shall be the chairman of the board;
● And not more than six members nominated by the Govt. [section 100 A (2)].
 A person convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude and sentenced to imprisonment for
not less than six months unless five years have elapsed from the date of expiry of the sentence shall be
disqualified for being nominated as a member [ S. 100 A (4)].
The term of office shall be prescribed by the Govt. [s. 100 A (5)

Power of the Taluk Land Board

The Taluk Land Board has the power of a civil Court trying a suit respect of the following
matters :
● Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath.
● Requiring the discovery and production of any documents.
● Receiving evidence on affidavit, and
● Any other matter which may be prescribed [S.100 (C)].
●
Powers of Land Board and Land Tribunal

The land Board and land tribunal shall have all the powers of a Civil Court trying a suit in respect
of following:-
● Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;
● Requiring the recovery and production of any document;
● Receiving evidence on Affidavit;
● Issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or for local investigation and
● Any matter which may be prescribed [S. 101 (1)].
In Addition in any proceeding the Land Tribunal has also the power to decide whether a person is
a small holder or a tenant and whether the right, title and interest of the land owner have been vested in
Govt.
The Land Board has superintendence over all Land Tribunals And Takuk Land Boards. Further,
the Land Board may call for returns from them. S.101 (2) (a)].
The Land Board has the power to make general rules and prescribed forms for regulating the
proceedings and for maintaining accounts by the land Tribunals, Appellate Authority And Taluk Land
Boards. The Land Board has also the power to transfer any application, appeal or proceeding pending
before a Land Tribunal or Appellate Authority to any other Land Tribunal or appellate Authority on
application of the parties or suo motu [S.101 (2) (e) ].
It is for the Land Boards or the Taluk Land Boards to decide whether any land is exempt from the
ceiling provision under S.81 [S.101 (4)].
Similarly the Land Board or the Taluk Land Board has the power to decide whether any land is
used for any trade, commerce, industry, manufacture or business. Such questions shall be decided by the
Land Board or Taluk board after taking into account the amount invested, income, portion of the land
used and the remaining portion of the land and other matters [S. 101 (5) read with S. 2 (5)].
The Taluk Board has the power to set aside its on order under S. 72 (5) or (7) regarding the extent
of land to be surrendered and to proceed afresh if it is satisfied about any of the following:
● Land surrendered is less than the land liable to surrender, or
● Lands surrendered by a person are not lawfully owned or held by him,
 ● Under the earlier order the person was held not liable to surrender any land though actually he
owns or holds lands in excess of the ceiling area.
In such cases the Taluk Land Board shall not set aside the order without giving the persons affected an
opportunity of being heard [S.84 (9)].
In Vellapally Plantations Pvt.Ltd. V. State of Kerala [1999 (2) KLT 352 (SC)], The Supreme
Court observed that the power vested in the Taluk Land Board under S. 85 (9) is intended to enable the
Board to correct errors in its orders and not to upset judgement / order/ decree of competent courts which
are binding on the parties.
In Lakshmi V. Viswanathan [1999 (2) KLT 621], the Kerala High Court held that once a purchase
certificate is issued under S. 72 K (2) in favor of a tenant, he has to be considered as the person in
possession of the property.
Where on any land leased for commercial or industrial purpose before 20/ 05/ 1967 the lessee has
constructed buildings for such purpose he shall not be evicted from such land but he shall be liable to pay
rent under the contract. Such rent shall be liable to be varied every 12 years [S. 106].
Section 80 A
In Kunjan Vasu V. Madhavan Achari [2002 (1) KLT 260 (SC)], the Supreme Court held that if a
person grants permission to another to occupy land which the landlord had in his possession at that time,
it does not mean that Kudikidappukaran’s rights would be reduced to such 2 cents so long as the
landowner had more than 10 cents of land available adjoining the Kudikidappu. [Sec. 11 (4)].

Eviction for Reconstruction

If part of a building is occupied by a person, he cannot claim Kudikkidappu. Similarly if two

persons occupy parts of the same building they too cannot claim Kudikidappu rights. For the purpose of
Kudikidappu rights “hut” means “a dwelling house” complete in itself and not a place which is merely a
part of a larger structure which can be used for residential purposes. Hut is normally understood as a very
small house complete in itself and low in cost. Nobody would refer to a flat or part of a street house used
as a dwelling place as a hut. It was held in Ittiahi Kunjan V. Lekshmykutty Amma [1968 KLT 888]. This
proposition was reiterated in Parukutty V. Sarasamma [2002n (2) KLT 259].