Kerala - Kochi   

HMT claims absolute right over property High Court Round-up

Kochi: HMT Limited on Friday reiterated that it had the absolute right, title and ownership over the land at Kalamassery in Ernakulam which was sold by it to a Mumbai-based company.

This was stated in an affidavit filed by M.C. Pookoya, general manger of the company, in response to a public interest writ petition challenging the sale of land pending before the High Court.

The affidavit said that the allegation that the sale was without any authority was baseless.

It was entitled to alienate or sell the land at its discretion.

In fact, the company had complied with all legal requirements in selling the land to the Mumbai-based company.

The sale did not violate any statutory provisions. The averment that it had been permitted to retain 100 acres of land for industrial purposes and so it could not alienate it was baseless. Even the land assigned by the government for industrial purposes was allowed to be mortgaged or used as security for loans taken from banks and financial institutions.

Such land was allowed to be alienated or transferred. The affidavit said that the company was also entitled to utilise the land for the development of townships.

The HMT said that there was no need for getting government approval or Cabinet nod for selling its land.

The Mumbai-based company Blue Star Realtors, which purchased the land, submitted in its affidavit that no government order had been violated. It said that the HMT had the right to transfer the land.

There was no illegality in the sale of the land to it.

Meanwhile, the petitioner, State Human Rights Centre, Thrissur, on Friday filed a petition seeking to call for the report submitted by the Chief Secretary on the land issue.

The petitioner said that the report was prepared with the assistance of the Revenue Secretary, Law Secretary and the Industry Secretary. The report would reveal whether there was any illegality in the sale of land.

It would also enable the court to issue guidelines in future on the sale of such land.

A petition was filed seeking a directive to the State government and the Director-General of Police to ensure that normal life was not affected and no untoward incident took place on February 19, the day on which the UDF has called for a hartal.

The petition was filed by the Kerala Anti-Hartal Campaign Committee.

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