Refusal to accept land tax: HC fines three revenue officials Rs 30,000

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala High Court has imposed a penalty of Rs 30,000 on three revenue officials for failing to implement a Lokayukta order directing them to accept land tax from a landowner. Those penalised include the Thiruvananthapuram Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), the Thiruvananthapuram Tahsildar (Land Records) and the Vanchiyoor Village Officer.

Retired Additional Secretary A. Maideen Pillai had approached the Lokayukta, alleging that the authorities were refusing to accept land tax despite his ownership and possession of 4.151 cents of land in Vanchiyoor village. Maideen had paid land tax regularly until 2018. However, the village authorities subsequently refused to accept tax for the entire property, citing a reduction in the recorded area to 3.53 cents following a resurvey.

The Lokayukta pointed out that a government order permitted authorities to accept tax for the entire extent of land if a resurvey resulted in a reduction in its recorded area, pending a final decision under the Survey and Boundaries Act or through a civil court. Based on this provision, the Lokayukta issued an interim order directing the revenue officials to provisionally accept tax for the full 4.151 cents.

The revenue officials challenged the Lokayukta's order before the High Court by filing a writ petition. The High Court criticised the officials for approaching the court instead of implementing a government order intended to provide relief to ordinary citizens. It ordered the recovery of Rs 30,000 from the officials for acting in a manner that harassed citizens. The government was directed to pay the amount to Maideen Pillai and subsequently recover it from the officials, with each of the three required to pay Rs 10,000.

A bench comprising Justice Dr A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Preetha A.K. also directed the government to consider departmental disciplinary action against the officials for defying government orders.