Documents reveal that, along with the illegal sale of Waqf land in Munambam in violation of regulations, a massive scam was orchestrated by incorporating government poramboke (wasteland) in the area into the re-survey to convert it into registered patta land. Complaints, backed by Right to Information (RTI) documents proving that planned corruption took place with the collusion of the Revenue and Re-survey departments, have been submitted to Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan and Waqf Minister N. Shamsudheen. The complainants are currently preparing to submit further evidence in the second phase.
The complaint alleges that, in property sales conducted at various times through Paul, an Ernakulam-based advocate authorised by Farook College under a sale agreement dated December 19, 1998, government poramboke land was included along with the land dedicated as Waqf by Siddique Sait. It further alleges that, at Paul's behest, the poramboke land was recorded in the college's name and that fraudulent pattayams were created during the re-survey to facilitate its sale to various individuals. The complainants have urged the government to verify the documents and boundaries of the land legally owned by Farook College under the original survey numbers specified in the Waqf deed, and to compare them with the land currently recorded in the college's name and subsequently sold by it. They argue that such a verification would help identify any encroachment upon government poramboke land and Waqf land. The complaint also seeks an investigation into the land transactions carried out on behalf of Farook College.
Survey records from 2010 have been submitted along with the complaint as evidence that, in certain parts of the disputed land in Munambam, government land is recorded alongside land claimed by the college. The complainants contend that this strengthens suspicions that the college approached the High Court with writ petitions during the period when the Justice Nisar Commission—appointed to examine the misuse and encroachment of Waqf properties in the state—was conducting its inquiry, allegedly to protect encroachers.
In a writ petition (W.P. No. 8900/2008) filed before the High Court on March 7, 2008, the college management claimed ownership of 290.76 acres of land in Munambam and stated that it had been paying land tax on the property. In support of its claim, it produced a tax receipt from 1998 and a letter dated January 18, 1999, addressed to the Assistant Director of Re-survey, asserting that its entire landholding on both the eastern and western sides of the seawall had not been surveyed and requesting that land reclaimed from the sea also be identified. Subsequently, an inspection conducted by Waqf Board officials N. Abdul Jaleel and Muhammad Zaheer at the Edappally Sub-Registrar Office found that Farook College had executed 74 property sale deeds in 1989 and another 153 in 1990. In 2009, claiming that the government had also encroached upon its land, the college filed another writ petition (W.P. No. 4447/2009). The High Court heard both petitions together and delivered its judgment on March 13, 2009.
Government departments among the alleged encroachers
A report submitted by the Re-survey Superintendent to the Assistant Director of Re-survey in 2010 states that the Tourism Department and the Irrigation Department had carried out unauthorised construction on land dedicated as Waqf in Munambam, portions of which also comprised government poramboke land. According to the report, of the 404.76 acres under Survey No. 18/1-4 that Siddique Sait had dedicated as Waqf, Farook College was paying land tax on only 290.76 acres, excluding the area that had been lost to the sea.
The report further states that the Tourism Department undertook construction on a 1.089-hectare tract that had previously been submerged by the sea but later re-emerged, while a portion of the college's land was acquired at a premium price for the Irrigation Department. The survey concluded that the land occupied by these two departments for construction also included government poramboke land. The Assistant Director's inspection further found that although old Survey Nos. 48 to 54 under Survey No. 18/1-4 were classified as poramboke land; they are currently recorded in the college's name in the re-survey records.
The complainants cite these findings as evidence to support their allegation that those entrusted with the sale of Farook College's land also created fraudulent pattayams covering poramboke land. An inspection conducted by the Ernakulam Re-survey Superintendent in 2010 found that, of the 24.52 hectares recorded in the college's name, 5.76 hectares of land and a 3.41-hectare canal ought to have been classified as poramboke. According to the complaint, none of these records has been made public until now.