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Additional Tahsildar & Anr. vs. Urmila G. & Ors.

SLP(C) · 2023 INSC 1044Decided 30 Nov 2023
SLP(C) No. 2652 of 2023
Vikram Nath · Rajesh Bindal

Background

Respondent Urmila G.'s predecessor filed a complaint before the Kerala Upa Lokayukta alleging that revenue authorities were not correcting an error in land revenue records and seeking mutation of the property in favour of certain legal heirs. The Upa Lokayukta, instead of merely recommending action, issued a direct order to the Tahsildar to rectify the revenue records and receive tax accordingly. The State's writ petition against this order was dismissed by the Kerala High Court, prompting the present appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that under Section 12 of the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act, 1999, a Lokayukta or Upa Lokayukta has only a recommendatory jurisdiction. It can report and recommend remedial action to the competent authority but cannot itself issue binding, positive directions to correct revenue records or collect tax, since separate statutes with their own appellate/revisional remedies govern those matters. Relying on earlier Kerala High Court rulings recognising this limited role, the Court found that the Upa Lokayukta had exceeded its jurisdiction, and that the High Court erred in upholding that order. It set aside both the High Court's and the Upa Lokayukta's orders, while leaving the respondent free to pursue the correct statutory remedy.

Lesson Learnt

Ombudsman-type bodies such as a Lokayukta can only recommend corrective action to the appropriate authority; they cannot bypass or override the specific statutory machinery (with its own appeal/revision process) meant to resolve issues like revenue record corrections.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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