The Congress leader said that while he would defend his rights, if it was found that he had encroached upon excess land, he would give it up.
Published Jan 29, 2024 | 7:48 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 29, 2024 | 7:48 PM
MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan. (mathewkuzhalnadanofficial/Facebook)
The Kerala Revenue Department has booked Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan for allegedly encroaching on 50 cents of government land adjacent to a resort owned by him in Chinnakanal in the hilly district of Idukki, Kerala.
The Udumbanchola Land Records Tahsildar registered the case under the Kerala Land Conservancy Act and entrusted the village officer to serve notice to the legislator, asking him to summon him for a hearing, a senior official said.
“It has been found that in the one acre and 20 cents of land bought by Mathew, 50 cents of government property is also encroached upon. That’s why a case is registered against the MLA,” the official told PTI. The date of the hearing is yet to be finalised, the official added.
However, the Muvattupuzha legislator had earlier outright rejected the charges and said that he had “not taken over even an inch of public land”.
The Congress leader said that while he would defend his rights, if it was found that he had encroached upon excess land, he would give it up.
“However, I am not going to run around in panic due to such moves. I will not be scared or deterred from the steps I have taken by such actions,” the MLA had said.
He was apparently referring to his allegations of irregularities in transactions of the firm Exalogic Solutions owned by Veena Thaikandiyil — Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter — with a Kochi-based company.
It was following his allegations against the firm that the government began looking into his resort property at Chinnakanal in Idukki.
Denying the encroachment allegations, Kuzhalnadan told reporters at a press briefing that he has “not taken over even an inch of public land”.
“I have not encroached upon any public land in excess of the resort property purchased by me,” he added.
He said that one of the reported allegations against him was that he had built a wall around the encroached area and contended that there was no wall around the entire resort property.
The MLA said that he only “reinforced” a portion of an ages-old protective wall, on one side of the property, that was in a dilapidated condition.
“I was forced to reinforce the wall as otherwise there was a possibility of the entire property crashing down onto the road. I do not know if that is the wall they are referring to. I have not seen the vigilance report or the decision taken by the Revenue Department,” Kuzhalnadan claimed.
(With PTI inputs)
