Kerala High Court: B. Sudheendra Kumar, J., disposed an original petition challenging the competency of the Commissioner in measuring the land.
The present case challenges a direction passed by the present court wherein the court directed the Commissioner to measure the property with the assistance of the Surveyor using the TST method.
The advocate representing the petitioner, B. Krishna Mani submitted that it does not challenge usage of TST method for measuring the property. It submitted that it is for the surveyor deputed by the court to decide the method for measuring the property and it is up to his discretion.
Respondent’s Counsel also had no objection in leaving the matter to be decided by the Surveyor.
The Court upon perusal of the facts and circumstances observed that the parties are raising allegations against the Commissioner and they have further alleged that the Commissioner was not an experienced individual for measuring the land. The Court stated that these allegations do not stand, particularly when the duty of the Advocate Commissioner is to measure the property with the assistance of the Surveyor, who is admittedly an experienced person. The Court modified the previous order and ordered that the Surveyor may choose any of the approved methods, including the TST method, to measure the property. Thereafter, the Court also directed the Commissioner and the Surveyor to complete the measurement of the property as expeditiously as possible. [Koshy George v. Abraham T. Varghese, 2020 SCC OnLine Ker 1145, decided on 04-02-2020]
