Munambam residents have received major relief as the Kerala High Court has permitted the Revenue Department to accept land tax until a final judgment is delivered in the ongoing case. The single bench granted approval for the department to collect land tax.
The order was issued on a petition filed by landholders seeking a directive to the Revenue authorities to accept land tax. The petition stated that the authorities had refused to accept tax, citing the Wakf Board’s claim over the land. Hearing the preliminary arguments, the single bench led by Justice C. Jayachandran directed that landholders be allowed to remit tax and the Revenue Department be allowed to accept it, pending further orders.
Another petition filed by the Kerala Wakf Protection Forum, challenging a 2022 order issued by the Kochi Tahsildar, is also before the High Court. Permission to collect land tax will remain in effect until final orders are passed in these petitions.
Earlier, a Division Bench had ruled that the Munambam land in question does not belong to the Wakf Board. Following this, the state government requested the High Court to expedite the hearings and sought permission—through an affidavit—to allow the acceptance of land tax in Munambam.
Residents view the interim order as a significant step toward resolving the long-pending land dispute in the region.
