Massive corruption in Munambam: government poramboke lands converted into pattayam lands

Documents reveal that along with the illegal sale of Waqf land in Munambam in violation of rules, massive irregularities were committed by adding government poramboke (government land unassessed for revenue) in the area to the re-survey and converting it into pattayam (governmet-granted title deed) lands. A complaint, along with Right to Information (RTI) documents proving that planned corruption took place with the collusion of the Revenue and Re-survey departments, has reached Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan and Waqf Minister N. Shamseeuddin. The complainants are currently moving to submit more evidence in the second phase.

The complaint states that in the sales carried out at various times through Paul, an Ernakulam-based advocate authorised by Farook College through a sale agreement dated December 19, 1998, government poramboke land was also included in addition to the land given as Waqf by Siddique Sait. A serious complaint has reached the Chief Minister alleging that, at Paul's behest, the poramboke land was added to the college's name, and fake pattayams were forged during the re-survey to sell it to various individuals. The demand of the complainants is that the government must verify the documents and boundaries of the land under the original survey numbers legally owned by Farook College as per the Waqf deed, as well as the land currently in the college's name and sold by them, to identify encroachments on government poramboke land and Waqf land. The complaint also demands an investigation into the sales conducted by Farook College.

The 2010 survey records have been submitted along with the complaint as proof that government land is also included along with the college's ownership in certain parts of the disputed land in Munambam. With this, the suspicion has strengthened that the college approached the High Court with writ petitions during the very period when the Justice Nisar Commission—appointed to study the misuse and encroachment of Waqf properties in the state—was conducting its investigation, precisely to help the encroachers.

In a writ petition (W.P. No. 8900/2008) filed by the college management in the High Court on March 7, 2008, it claimed that it owned 290.76 acres of land in Munambam and had been paying tax for it. Along with this, they submitted the tax receipt from 1998 and a letter dated January 18, 1999, sent to the Assistant Director of Re-survey, stating that the entirety of their land lying east and west of the seawall had not been surveyed and that land reclaimed from the sea should also be identified. Following this, an inspection conducted by Waqf Board officials N. Abdul Jaleel and Muhammad Zaheer at the Edappally Sub-Registrar Office revealed that Farook College had executed 74 property sales in 1989 and 153 property sales in 1990. Claiming that the government had also encroached upon their land, the college filed another writ petition (W.P. 4447/09) in 2009. The High Court pronounced its verdict on March 13, 2009, after hearing both petitions together.

Government departments among 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 carried out unauthorised construction on the Waqf land in Munambam, which also included poramboke (government wasteland) land. The report notes that out of the 404.76 acres under survey number 18/1-4 given as Waqf by Siddique Sait, the college currently pays tax for only 290.76 acres, excluding the portion swallowed by the sea.

The report mentions that the Tourism Department carried out construction activities on a certain portion (1.089 hectares) that was once swallowed by the sea but later became land again, and a small part of the land held by the college was acquired at a premium price for the Irrigation Department. The finding of the survey at the time was that the college land, encroached upon by these two departments for unauthorised construction activities, also included poramboke land. The inspection conducted by the Assistant Director also revealed that although numbers 48 to 54 under the old survey number 18/1-4 were poramboke lands, they are currently in the name of the college according to the re-survey records.

This is being pointed out as evidence that those who took the sale contract from Farook College forged fake pattayams (title deeds) for the poramboke land as well. In an inspection conducted by the Ernakulam Re-survey Superintendent in 2010, it was found that there were 24.52 hectares of property in the name of the college, which included 5.76 hectares of land and a 3.41-hectare canal that ought to be categorised as poramboke. However, none of these records have been made public until now.