The events may seem straight out of a Bollywood potboiler. Two family friends decide to exchange their properties and one undertakes cultivation in the land even before registration on the strength of the power of attorney.
After toiling in the land for nine years, he finds himself cheated as it is forest land, claims back his building which was exchanged but the other does not part with it and the issue now remains tied up in legal knots.
Ironically, one of the characters in the story is the owner of 70.44 acres of the controversial Shernelly estate in Nelliampathy - Kuruvinamkunnel Abraham of Pala. The person who exchanged a three- storey building for 55 acres of the estate is Velady James of Bharananganam.
Both Abraham and James had petitioned and deposed before the M M Hassan-led UDF sub-committee and the V D Satheesan committee of UDF MLAs.
In his statement to the committees, A V James says he was offered 55 acres of land of the Shernelly estate in exchange for his 7,500-square-feet three-storey building located on 82 cents of land at Bharananganam for which an agreement was executed on August 13, 2001.
Subsequently, James and his family shifted from Bharananganam and began to cultivate crops which included rubber, gooseberry and plantain at the Sherenelly estate. The condition was that the registration would take place before December 31, 2002. But as the date neared, Abraham postponed the registration date till January 31, 2006. In the meantime, James says as his funds were exhausted he had asked for a loan. Abraham had availed of Rs 29 lakh in 2005 by pledging nine documents in the SBI and given it to James. Subsequently, Abraham asked James to transfer 46 cents of the 82 cents of land at Bharananganam so that he could pay off his debts. The 46 cents of land were transferred in the names of three persons as suggested by Abraham by registering them at the Meenachil sub-registrar office on January 11, 2006.
However, subsequently also Abraham postponed the registration citing various reasons. James says in his statement that the 3,000 rubber saplings and hybrid gooseberry planted at the Shernelly estate were destroyed by wild elephants in 2009 that he decided to approach the Divisional Forest Office, Nenmara, and Conservator of Forests, Palakkad, for compensation. Both of them were informed that the estate had violated lease conditions and were issued notices for takeover.
James points out that since the estate was in Abraham’s name, he was unaware of the developments.
James subsequently demanded his building back in Bharananganam and he along with his family shifted out of Shernelly and came back to Bharananganam. But James says that Abraham said he could not do anything regarding the 46 cents of land which was sold out but promised to return the remaining land which was also not done.
James also says that one of the power of attorneys was also forged. There were a lot of discrepancies in the registration document regarding the village -Thrikanalvattom village in Kannayanoor taluk of Ernakulam district - which does not exist.
Similarly, the document (640/78) dated June 12,1978 registered at the Nemmara sub-registrar office is in the name of Abraham, son of Kuruvilla of Kattiakaran veetil. James argues that there is no person by the name of Kuruvilla in Kattiakaran house. In the remaining 14 documents registered the next day, the person who signed as witness is Abraham, son of Kuruvinamkunnel Kuruvila of Edamattom.
On the other hand, K K Abraham says that James, who had stayed at Shernelly for 10 years and cultivated crops there, was fully aware of the nature of the land. The registration was delayed because he had not got a no-objection certificate from the Forest Department even though he had applied twice to the Collector. He says that since 1912, rubber has been cultivated in the land and he had availed of loan since he had “transferable rights”.
Abraham said that he had repaid the full amount of Rs 33 lakh taken from SBI in his name as one-time settlement in February 2012 even though the amount was utilized by James. Moreover, James had slaughter-felled all the rubber planted by him and taken the money. The name Thrikanalvattom village was a mistake on the part of the document writer and he had meant Thrikanalvattom desam.
On the charge of James that one of the power of attorneys was forged, he pointed out he had a certificate from finger print experts to prove that it was genuine. Abraham says that Katiakaran is his wife’s house and, therefore, it was written in the deed.
Abraham says that when he decided to exchange the land, the value of the land in Bharananganam was just Rs 40,000 per cent.
But now it has shot up to Rs 10 lakh per cent after Sister Alphonsa was declared as saint and this was the reason for the discomfiture of James.
DGP Jacob Punnoose had mediated in the matter saying that both could sell their respective land and divide it between the two for which James was not willing. Since the issue was in the courts, let them decide finally, said Abraham.
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