The Madras High Court has mandated the annulment of land leases for those occupying Panchami land in Ariyalur, affirming that ‘Panchami land designated for scheduled communities cannot be utilised by other communities.’
The government originally allocated 1.12 acres of Panchami land to the grandfather of Kamaraj from Periyanagalur village in Ariyalur district. However, Kamaraj’s grandfather sold this land to a non-scheduled individual in 1963. Subsequently, the land changed hands multiple times from 2009 to 2021. In response, Kamaraj filed a petition with the district collector and other authorities, urging the cancellation of these sales agreements and the recovery of the Panchami land.
Faced with inaction on his petition, Kamaraj escalated the matter by filing a case in the Madras High Court, seeking an order for the concerned authorities to address his grievances. Justice P. Velmurugan presided over the hearing, with Advocate D. Gnana Banu representing the petitioner. The judge’s ruling stipulated that entering into an agreement to sell Panchami land allocated to a Scheduled Caste community to a non-Scheduled Caste is illegal, and such land cannot be converted.
The authorities were censured for their failure to monitor the situation, leading to the conversion of the land into residential plots and subsequent construction by various individuals. Upon learning of this development in 2022, the petitioner took legal action. The government has yet to respond to the case.
Documents obtained by the petitioner through the Right to Information Act unequivocally establish the land in question as Panchami land, designated for the Scheduled Caste community. The court stressed that this land cannot be used by other communities, and the government lacks the authority to alter its categorisation. Consequently, the judge ruled in favor of recovering the land from its current occupants, canceling land titles, and instructing the government to register it as Panchami land in the revenue records for allocation to eligible landless individuals.
Murasoli Land Case
It is noteworthy to revisit the Murasoli land case at this juncture. On 4 January 2024, the Madras High Court, under Justice SM Subramaniam, directed the DMK government to provide revenue documents related to the Murasoli Trust’s land in the Panchami land case. The Trust, representing DMK, aimed to restrain the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) from hearing a complaint by Tamil Nadu BJP Secretary R Srinivasan. The government, on 5 January 2024, countered Panchami land claims, stating the Murasoli office land belongs to Anjugam Publications. The High Court, on 10 January 2024, directed NCSC to issue a new summons, invalidating prior ones. The judge urged an unbiased inquiry considering TN government documents and BJP’s complaint. The court emphasised the commission’s duty to investigate Panchami land issues and dismissed pleas to annul the previous summons. BJP leader K Annamalai called on DMK to cooperate with the investigation, emphasising their legal struggle to recover Panchami lands.
(with inputs from Dinamalar)
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