Kerala: District court permission must for selling land owned by minor

KOZHIKODE: State commission for protection of child rights (KeSCPCR) has made a significant intervention in protecting the rights of children having ownership in a land property. According to the commission’s order, if the land to be sold is owned by a minor, the registration department should ask for the district court permission from the seller before the registration.

If the land is not belonging to a juvenile, a remark that no ownership of a child is involved in the transaction should be included in the document. As per the Guardians and Wards Act of 1890, the land owned by a child should only be sold by the guardian after obtaining permission from the district court. But this was not adhered to in many cases and hence the complainant, Adv. C. Prakash of Malappuram approached the KeSCPCR.

He said he had come across many cases of guardians and real estate agents snatching away properties of children as the sub-registrar concerned don’t seek the court approval in the matter. Most of the victims belong to downtrodden and the SC/ST. “This is a matter of grave concern. Though remarks such as the land didn’t belong to forest reserve, no cases were attached to the property, etc. should be mentioned during the time of registration, no such assurance is being made regarding the ownership right of a child,” said the commission member K. Naseer Chaliyam. The taxes secretary and inspector general of registration department are the respondents in the case.