SC upholds cancellation of patta over Tamil Nadu water body, orders alternative site for 20 flat owners

The Supreme Court has upheld the cancellation of a ‘ryotwari patta’ granted over land recorded as a government water body in Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu.

A Bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria, in its judgment delivered on October 16, 2026, took note of the flat owners’ plight and directed the State government to allot a suitable alternative site to the owners of 20 flats before demolishing their apartments.

A ‘ryotwari patta’ is an official revenue document and land record issued to an individual cultivator (ryot), certifying their right to occupy and cultivate a specific 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 made to believe the State government had no interest in the subject land. “Therefore, directing the demolition of flats without examining the hardship of the flat owners and the independent remedies available to them in law against the owner of the land and the developer of the apartments would cause irreparable financial injury and throw the families on the streets,” he said.

“In the circumstances of the case, to ameliorate the possible hardship and, without committing a breach of Section 14-A of the Tamil Nadu Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948, we direct the Chief Secretary, State of Tamil Nadu, and the District Collector, Tiruvallur, to allot a vacant, commensurate site to the owners of the flats represented by the Society, preferably within six months from today, and thereafter to undertake the demolition of the constructed area to an extent of 0.22 acres,” the Bench said.

The verdict dismissed three civil appeals filed by a flat owner and Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank Ltd., challenging the cancellation of the ‘patta’ and the subsequent directions for restoring the land as a water body.

The case concerned a particular survey number at Thirumullaivoyal village, 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 controversy arose after the District Revenue Officer, Tiruvallur, granted a ‘ryotwari patta’ for 0.72 acres to P. Ramadoss, in January 2011.

The land was subsequently used for property transactions and development, including the construction of 20 residential flats. Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank also extended credit facilities of ₹3.40 crore against a mortgage created over the land.

In December 2019, the Commissioner of Land Administration set aside the patta, holding it had been granted in violation of the applicable legal provisions. The Madras High Court subsequently upheld the cancellation and directed the removal of unauthorised structures and restoration of the water body.

Rejecting the appellants’ challenge, the Court observed that the earliest revenue records classified the land as a tank and government ‘poramboke’, rather than ‘ryoti’ land eligible for a patta. The Court said the appellants had not established that the land qualified for such a grant under the 1948 Act.