In a setback to the Kerala government, the Sub Court, Pala on Monday ruled against the state in a seven-year-old dispute over the ownership of the Cheruvally estate at Erumeli, the land that has been earmarked for the proposed Sabarimala International Greenfield Airport.
The Pala Sub Court ruled that the government does not have ownership rights over the Cheruvalli estate, identified for the proposed Sabarimala International Greenfield Airport
Delivering its verdict, the court upheld the validity of the 2005 sale of the 2,263-acre estate by Harrisons Malayalam Limited (HML) to Ayana Charitable Trust, which is associated with the KP Yohannan-led Believers’ Church.
The state government had moved the Sub Court in 2019, seeking to reclaim the estate, which lies across Erumely South and Manimala villages in Kottayam district. The government, in its petition, stated that the lease period of the 2570 acres of land currently held by the Ayana Charitable Trust has expired and it will be vested in the government.
In 2018, the Rajamanikyam Committee had recommended that the lease period of the estates, including Cheruvally, had expired and that the government should acquire them. The government also issued an acquisition notification. However, the previous owners of the land, the Harrison Malayalam Limited, approached the Kerala High Court. The court cancelled the land acquisition. It was suggested that the civil court be approached to acquire the land.
The government argued that the land belonged to the state and had been unlawfully transferred, maintaining that it fell under the Pandaravaka Pattom category and had only been leased to Harrison Malayalam Limited. The Trust, however, countered these claims by asserting ownership through adverse possession, pointing to uninterrupted occupation of the estate by its predecessors for over a century.