Setback to VS Achuthanandan as High Court terms Munnar drive illegal
Kochi: In a major setback to Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan, the Kerala High Court on Friday declared as illegal the drive conducted by the Special Task Force (STF), commonly termed as Munnar eviction, in May 2007.
The then Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan had handpicked a three- member STF and reclaimed more than 11,000 acres of encroached land and close to a100 buildings, including high-end resorts, which were demolished in a month's time.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice A.M.Shaffique directed the State to restore possession of land to Cloud Nine) at Chinnakkanal, Abad Motels and Resorts and Munnar Woods in Devikulam village and to pay '10 lakh as provisional compensation for destroying the resort of Cloud Nine (Autumn Wood Resorts).
The State Government suddenly woke up from its slumber and passed an order without even considering the valuable constitutional, legal and human rights aspect of the issue and immediately demolished the structures, the court held. "It cannot be taken away by abuse of power in a democratic society, where rule of law prevails. Such abuse of power is liable to be curbed. Shutting the court's eyes to such patent illegalities would result in chaos which should not be permitted and hence the State was liable to compensate the petitioner for the wrong done” the court said.
The court held that when the property was demolished after passing an illegal order, the holder of the property was entitled to compensation. The court observed that the act of the Government had been highly discriminative and autocratic.
The court was considering a batch of petitions challenging the eviction and demolition drive conducted by the STF. The court asked the State to restore possession of the place to the petitioner within one month. However, Cloud Nine should not take up any construction within the cardamom area until a final decision was taken in appropriate proceedings, the court held.
Meanwhile, the bench awarded Rs 15,000 to the State Government in the case filed by Munnar Woods. The court also quashed the order to take over the land to the extent of 2.84 acres in possession of Munnar woods in Pallivasal and 12.83 acres in Anaviratty. The court also asked the State to pay Rs 15,000 as court expenses.
