Thiruvananthapuram: The future of the proposed Sabarimala Greenfield Airport faces renewed uncertainty following a crucial judicial ruling on Monday. The Pala sub-court dismissed the Kerala government's petition claiming ownership over the Cheruvally Estate, the site designated for the project. However, Revenue Minister K. Rajan has firmly denied that the verdict constitutes a setback for the Pinarayi Vijayan administration.
The court rejected the state’s argument that the 2,263-acre estate was government land on an expired lease. Instead, it upheld the ownership claims of the Ayyana Charitable Trust, which is associated with the Believers Church.
Speaking to the media after visiting a township construction site in Wayanad, Minister Rajan attempted to downplay the significance of the ruling. He insisted that the court had only identified procedural lapses rather than delivering a final judgment on the actual title of the land.
"The verdict pertains to procedural aspects. It is not a judgment on the ownership of the land," Rajan stated. He added that the government intends to examine the judgment in detail before determining its legal strategy moving forward.
The Pinarayi Vijayan government has been aggressively pursuing the airport project, which would be Kerala's fifth international airport if completed. The administration had argued that, based on the 1910 Settlement Register, the land was government leasehold property that Harrison Malayalam had illegally transferred to the Trust.
The Pala court, however, accepted the Trust's evidence of valid ownership documents, dismissing the state’s contention that the land had vested back to the government.
This ruling significantly complicates the land acquisition process. The government cannot proceed with acquiring the core land parcel, spread across Erumeli South and Manimala villages, unless it successfully challenges this verdict in a higher court.
This development follows previous legal hurdles for the project, including a Kerala High Court decision that quashed earlier land acquisition notifications, citing that the amount of land sought was excessive and unjustified under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act.
(Inputs from IANS)