Kerala
,
Kollam, Thrissur, Waynad
,
Pathanamthitta
Published :
Jul 2018
|
Updated :
Illegal land holding by Harrisons Malayalam Ltd in Kerala
Reported by
Sooraj H S
Legal Review by
Anmol Gupta
Edited by
Anupa Kujur
Households affected
People affected
2004
Year started
31068
Land area affected
Households affected
People Affected
2004
Year started
31068
Land area affected
Key Insights
Sector
Industry
Reason/Cause of conflict
Commercial Agriculture/Agro-business
Conflict Status
Ongoing
Ended
Legal Status
Region Classification
Ended
Sector
Industry
Reason/Cause of conflict
Commercial Agriculture/Agro-business
Conflict Status
Ongoing
Ended
Legal Status
Region Classification
Ended
Summary
Fact Sheet
Legal Data
Additional Info
Criminal Law
1
Summary
Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. (HML), the biggest land holding private firm in the state of Kerala was established its business back in 1834. They leased tens of thousands of acres of land for agri business which includes tea plantations, rubber plantations and other diversified agri products. Since 2004, discrepancies of land holdings, land alienation and forgery of documents by the company has came to light. After the official probes and court directives a high level committee was constituted under (Special Offiecer) Mr. MG Rajamanickam in 2013. Rajamanickam Committee Report found a total of 76769.80 acres of land held by the company in which 59363 acres has no legal documents/ownership deeds. Also, land alienation of 12658.16 acres by the company was recorded and Forgery of Documents were reported. Rajamanickam committee recommended that the rightful ownership of land leased to private comanies before 1947 came to the state government under the Indian Independence Act, 1947. Accordingly, the activities of HML has clearly violated the Kerala Land Reforms Act of 1963. Thus action should be taken to evict the land identified as illegal holding. Eviction notice has been served to HML for 29000 acres of illegal holdings which was challenged by the company in the High Court of Kerala. The case is still going on. Various reports of discrepancies were came to the notice of revenue authorities since 2004, which led to an operation to verify the legitimacy of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. landholdings. In 2006 the Kerala government conducted a detailed report about the land holdings of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. According to the Government of Kerala, Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. has got as much as 59363 acres of illegal land in the state of Kerala. In 2013, the government had constituted a High Level Enquiry Committee headed by Mr. Rajamanikyam, following a Kerala High Court, to take over all the unauthorised landholdings, if any, of HML in the State. In October, 2013, M. G. Rajamanickam with power vested by Kerala high court and Kerala Land Conservancy Act inspected the land in four districts, heard the company's contentions and finally decided that the land belonged to the government and the company was an illegal occupant.
2
Fact Sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

No items found.

Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Illegal holding of land

Region Classification

Type of Land

Common

Forest and Non-Forest

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)

Status of Project

Original Project Deadline

Whether the Project has been Delayed

Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users

Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict

Source/Reference

Total investment involved (in Crores):

₹

Type of investment:

Year of Estimation

Page Number In Investment Document:

Has the Conflict Ended?

When did it end?

Why did the conflict end?

3
Legal Data

Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict

Forest Rights Act of 2006

Legislations/Policies Involved

Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963
Section 51: the lessee cannot terminate the tenancy by surrendering the leasehold right and even if he should surrender, it could be only in favour of the Government; Section 71 ; Section 96: advasi agricultural labourers are among the categories entitled to assignment of excess land vested with
Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction on Transfer of Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act, 1975
Section 4: Restriction on transfer of immovable property, a member of an ST community can transfer property only to another member from an ST community. Other transfers are invalid.
Kerala Land Conservancy Act, 1957
Section 3: Explains property of the government, so as to prevent unauthorized occupation
Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013
Section 16: Preparation of a rehabilitation and resettlement scheme for those being displaced; Section 27: Determining the amount of compensation to be provided to those impacted by the acquisition

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Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute

What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?

What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?

Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:

Non-implementation/violation of FRA

Legal Status:

Status of Case In Court

Disposed

Whether any adjudicatory body was approached

Name of the adjudicatory body

Name(s) of the Court(s)

Case Number

Main Reasoning/Decision of court

Legal Supporting Documents

Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:

No items found.

Whether criminal law was used against protestors:

Reported Details of the Violation:

Date of Violation

Location of Violation

4
Additional Information

Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:

Revenue Department, Kerala

PSUs Involved in the Conflict:

Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?

Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached

Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:

Harrisons Malayalam Ltd, RPG Enterprises

Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?

Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:

5
Information on the use of criminal law

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Legal Supporting Documents

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Author
Reported by
Sooraj H S

Sooraj is an activist engaging in human rights and land issues in his home state of Kerala. As a freelance journalist, he also writes about agrarian issues and campus politics. He holds an M.Phil in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

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Fact sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

No items found.

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Status of Project

Original Project Deadline

Whether the Project has been Delayed

Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users

Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict

Source/Reference

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