SC upholds cancellation of patta over Tamil Nadu water body, orders alternative venue for 20 flat owners
A ‘ryotwari patta’ is an official income document and land record issued to an individual cultivator (ryot) confirming their right to occupy and cultivate a particular piece of land while paying land tax directly to the government. File | Photo credit: PTI
The Supreme Court has upheld the cancellation of the ‘ryotwari patta’ granted over an area recorded as a government water body in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.
A bench of Justices SVN Bhatti and NV Anjaria in its judgment dated 16 October 2026 took cognizance of the plight of the flat owners and directed the state government to allot a suitable alternative site to the owners of 20 flats before demolishing their flats.
A ‘ryotwari patta’ is an official income document and land record issued to an individual cultivator (ryot) confirming their right to occupy and cultivate a particular piece of land while paying land tax directly to the government.
Justice Bhatti, writing the judgment for the Bench, said that because of the orders and revenue records, the flat owners were convinced that the state government had no interest in the land in question. “Therefore, directing the demolition of apartments without examining the plight of apartment owners and the independent remedies available to them by law against the landowner and the apartment developer would cause irreparable financial harm and throw families onto the streets,” he said.
“In the circumstances of the case, in order to mitigate possible hardships and without committing any violation of Section 14-A of the Tamil Nadu Estates (Abolition and Conversion to Ryotwari) Act, 1948, we direct the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu and the District Collector of Tiruvallur to allot the vacant site to the owners of flats represented by surate within six months from today and thereafter carry out the demolition of the built-up area in measuring 0.22 acres,” the Bench said.
The verdict dismissed three civil appeals filed by the flat owner and Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank Ltd. challenging the cancellation of the ‘patty’ and subsequent directions to restore the land as a water body.
The case concerned a specific survey number in the village of Thirumullaivoyal, originally recorded in the 1911 resettlement register as “Government Poramboke – Kanakkan Kuttai”. The disputed land formed part of a larger extent of 1.68 acres. The dispute arose after the Tiruvallur district revenue officer had granted a ‘ryotwari patta’ for 0.72 acres to P. Ramadoss in January 2011.
The land was subsequently used for real estate transactions and development, including the construction of 20 residential apartments. Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank also provided credit facilities of ₹3.40 crore against the mortgage created on the land.
In December 2019, the Commissioner of Land Administration set aside the patta, ruling that it had been granted in contravention of applicable legal provisions. The Madras High Court subsequently upheld the cancellation and ordered the removal of unauthorized structures and restoration of the water body.
Dismissing the appellants’ contention, the court noted that the earliest revenue records classified the land as tank and government ‘poramboke’, rather than ‘ryoti’ land eligible for patta. The court said that the appellants had not shown that the land was eligible for such a grant under the 1948 Act.
Published – 19 October 2026 16:46 IST