Kerala - Kochi   

Hearing in Merchiston land deal case adjourned to Friday

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday adjourned to next Friday the hearing on a petition seeking a direction to the Sub-inspector of Police, Cantonment police station, Thiruvananthapuram, to register a crime case against Forest Minister Benoy Viswom and others on the basis of a private complaint given to the police in connection with the Merchiston land deal.

Justice R. Basant adjourned the hearing to enable the Additional Advocate-General to get instruction from the government in the matter. The petition was filed by John Peruvanthanam.

According to the petitioner, despite the fact that the Merchiston estate was notified as being ecologically fragile land, the Minister had “abetted and instigated” Xavy Mano Mathew, the estate owner, to cut down trees from the estate and thus they committed an offence punishable under Section 84 read with 27 of the Kerala Forest Act and 120 B of Indian Penal Code (hatching criminal conspiracy).

The officials under the government had also abetted the estate owner to commit the offences. The offences were cognisable. The Minister allowed the estate owner to cut down the trees at a meeting convened at his chamber. A complaint for registering a crime against the Minster and others was lodged with the Cantonment Police Station. However, the police had not registered any case.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice K.T. Sankaran adjourned to October 16 the hearing on a public interest petition seeking a direction to the government to take up the road repair works on a war footing.

When the petition came up, the Bench pointed out that Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan had already stated that the roads in the State would be repaired by October 15.

The High Court has appointed three lawyers as commissioners to inspect and report as to whether there was any eucalyptus plantation in the areas adjoining Rajamalai which was the habitat of Nilgiri thar.

The commissioners were also directed to report whether the order issued in 1988 by the Principal Conservator of Forests directing the forest officers to ban all deforestation activities in forest area when the eucalyptus trees were allowed to be planted.

The commissioners were appointed on a petition filed by the Environment Protection Council.

Justice S. Siri Jagan has held that a sale promotion employee as defined under the Sales Promotion Employees (Condition of Service) Act was entitled to approach the Industrial Tribunal.

The court while dismissing a petition filed by a company said that the Act was clear that the sale promotion employee was a workman as defined under the Industrial Disputes Act. The company filed the petition against the Alappuzha Industrial Tribunal’s order entertaining a complaint from its former sales representative.

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