Thiruvananthapuram: Revenue department officials have pulled down the Kerala Law Academy's main gate to the campus as it was found to have been built on government land.
The move by the revenue department, manned by CPI minister E Chandrasekharan, is in contrast to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s earlier comment that the government was not prepared to take over land from the academy.
The notice from the revenue department directed the college management to clear the land of the structures within 24 hours and asked for an explanation about a bank branch and restaurant functioning out of the college campus.
Revenue minister E Chandrasekharan, when asked about the CM's unwillingness to take the management to task over the alleged encroachments, said he was not aware of those comments.
"You should ask him about that. I had ordered a probe and I received a report. I have given orders of follow-up action based on the report," he said.
The revenue department's action follows a report prepared by the principal secretary. The department had earlier claimed 28 cents of land bearing survey number 726-5 as its own.
Revenue principal secretary P.H. Kurian said the academy had built its main gate and the road that leads to the college on a stretch that belongs to the Kerala Water Authority. The land was meant to be laid with a pipe line as per the basic tax register, the report showed.
This is a public road and it was not transferred to the college management at any point but they were using it as a private road, Kurian said.
Minister Chandrasekharan said the college management had built its main gate and the compound wall on government land.
"An investigation by the revenue principal secretary has found this out. The district collector's notice to the Law Academy is based on this report. The academy has to pull down the gate and the compound wall. Revenue rules demand that its should be done at the earliest. If the academy does not do it, the district collector can clear the encroachment," he said.
The revenue department will wait for the management's explanation on the legality of letting a bank branch and restaurant functioning out of the campus before taking any action on it. The college management has been asked how it let two commercial establishments work out of land allotted for educational purposes.