Kochi: The high court has ruled that Revenue Divisional Officers' (RDO) regularization order is not needed for buildings constructed in a reclaimed land before the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland (Amendment) Act 2008 came into being.

Justice A Mohammad Mushtaq ruled that the wetland amendment law will not be applicable to buildings constructed in reclaimed land which has not been sanctioned under the Kerala Land Use Order and the land which is in the revenue records but not included in Data Bank.

The Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wet Land (Amendment) Act 2008, came into being on December 30, 2017. As per the amended law, an application has to be submitted under the relevant rules to the RDO for making any changes in the nature of the lands.

The high court order came in connection with a petition related to an application given for building permit for a land which has been recorded in the Basic Tax Register (BTR) as "land" and in the data bank as "converted land". At the moment an old building is located on the petitioner's land. The petition was filed by Global Education Trust. The corporation had insisted on regularization order for the said land from RDO as per the amendment act.

The court while citing Division Bench orders, pointed out that RDO's order is not applicable for giving building permits for construction in land reclaimed prior to the coming into existence of Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2008. The court said RDO's regularization order cannot be made mandatory for lands where construction activities were carried out before December 30, 2017 without obtaining land use order.

At the same time the corporation can ask for RDO's regularization order if the applicant has sought permission for construction or reconstruction that is bigger than the structure constructed prior to the coming into being of amended law.

The court directed the authorities to consider the petitioners application legally and take action within four weeks.