Revenue department officials on Friday sealed an illegally operating resort at Suryanelli near Munnar. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Revenue department officials on Friday sealed an illegally operating resort at Suryanelli near Munnar. According to officials, the Kerala High Court had earlier ordered the closure of buildings constructed for commercial purposes without issuing a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the finance ministry.
A resident of Suryanelli approached the Supreme Court claiming that the resort was built without the required NOC. On this motion, the court directed the revenue officials to ensure that the property is not used for commercial purposes. Despite the issuance of the stop memo, officials said the resort continued to operate in violation of the order.
Previous attempts by officials to stop traffic were blocked three times by CPI(M) workers.
The Supreme Court recently issued an interim order to stop all operations at the resort owned by resident Suryanelli S. Manoj. Acting on this order, tahsildar Sidhik Kutty, Chinnakkanal panchayat secretary V. Santhosh Kumar and officers from Santhanpara police station arrived at the Udumbanchola LR site on February 17 to enforce the closure. But the team was blocked by CPI(M) workers led by NP district secretariat member Sunil Kumar.
Following these events, the amicus curiae submitted a report to the court stating that officials failed to close the resort due to threats from CPI(M) workers. Although CPI(M) workers again tried to block the progress on Friday, the police removed them from the spot.
Officials said they would submit a formal report to the court on enforcement action against the department.
Published – 27 Feb 2026 20:38 IST
