In Brief
The case concerns vested forest land in Kerala. The respondents obtained purchase certificates for 12 acres notified as vested forest in 1977. The Land Tribunal cancelled their certificates after finding the land was covered by government forest. The respondents sought a court order requiring revenue authorities to accept property tax, based on earlier admissions of their possession. The High Court granted this relief. The Supreme Court reversed it, holding that once land is vested as forest and certificates cancelled by competent authority, accepting tax from the person indirectly establishes title contrary to the vesting law. Any forest-related disputes must be resolved by the Forest Tribunal, not through collateral mandamus petitions.
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