KOZHIKODE: After sweeping under the carpet for seven long years, the state government has acted on a vigilance inquiry report on a four-decade-old fraud. The forest officials were found deliberately fabricating and tampering with documents to cover up the fact that the 12 acres land of a farmer, late Kanjirathinal George, was illegally kept in the custody of the forest department labelling as 'vested' since 1977.
Mr George and his brother Jose bought the 12 acres of Janmam Patta land in 1967. In 1977, the forest department had an attempt to evict the farmer claiming that it had notified it under Kerala Private Forest Vesting and Assignment Act.
As the move was illegal, the forest tribunal in a verdict recognised the right of the farmer in 1978. But later forest officials fabricated evidence and won in a series of legal wrangles.
A recent letter from vigilance department additional chief secretary Nalini Netto to Kalpetta MLA C.K. Saseendran said it had already directed the forest department to take appropriate action against the officials. Moves are also on to end the cases regarding the land at High Court and to assert the right of the farmer to the land, it said.
The vigilance inquiry was ordered in 2008 when V.S. Achuthanandan was chief minister. Its northern range SP T. Sreesukan was the investigating officer who submitted a report in August 2009. The report said, “All the cases filed by Mr George and Mr Jose were decreed against them due to the suppression of facts by the forest officials”.
The report recommended departmental action against forest officials including then North Wayanad DFO E. Pradeepkumar. But suspected to be under pressure from forest department the report never saw the light of the day. The LDF government and successive UDF government failed to take any action in this regard so far.
Mr Saseendran told DC that the government was on with the mission to ensure justice. “I will not say it is a big thing. But it is a stern step towards justice,” he added.
Treesa, daughter of Mr George, and her husband K.K. James had been on an indefinite sit-in in front of the collectorate, Kalpetta since August 15 last year.
