Munambam judicial commission’s appointment cancellation plunges land issue into further legal complications

Kerala High Court rules in favor of Kerala Waqf Land Samrakshana Vedi, State government likely to challenge decision.

The quashing of the appointment of the C. N. Ramachandran Nair judicial commission on Munambam land issue has once again plunged the vexing issue, which has even threatened to upset the communal amity in the State, into further uncertainties.

Though the State government, represented by its Advocate General, keenly contested the petition of the Kerala Waqf Land Samrakshana Vedi for the dissolution of Mr. Nair’s appointment before the Kerala High Court, the court found merit in the contentions of Vedi and ruled in its favour. The State government is likely to challenge the decision before a Division Bench.

The court order has again reactivated the issue, which had remained almost dormant for the past few months. The Waqf Tribunal, headed by a District Judge, had also seized the matter and had held a camp sitting in Kochi as the parties to the Munambam litigation were all from Kochi. There will be a change of guard in the Tribunal as Rajan Thattil, the present judge, will be replaced by T. K. Minimol as the chairperson in May this year as part of the general transfer of the judicial officers.

Incidentally, Mr. Nair had voluntarily suspended the functioning of the commission during the second week of February, when the petition challenging his appointment came up before the Kerala High Court.

Responding to the Single Judge’s order, Mr. Nair said he had no personal comments to offer as it was up to the State government to respond. “The State government can either accept the order or challenge it before a Division Bench. I shall wait for the government’s decision,” he said.

The Commission had almost completed its work and all that was left was to write the report. Large volumes of documents, including the earlier court orders and title deeds of properties involved in the issue, were collected by the commission. While some documents were obtained from the government, the parties to the litigation too had also supplied several documents to the panel. It had also listened to various stakeholders and provided them the opportunity to file written submissions, explained Mr. Nair.

“The functioning of the Munambam panel has not brought any significant financial burden on the government as I have not taken any remuneration for the job because the government has been paying me the salary for my engagement as the chairperson of the Kerala State Commission for Economically Backward Classes among Forward Communities. All that the government has spent on the panel was the wages of the staff employed for the panel,” he said.