Ratheesh K R vs State of Kerala - National Green Tribunal Order

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Ratheesh K R vs State Of Kerala Rep By Its Chief ... on 24 March, 2026

Item No.1:-

          BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
               SOUTHERN ZONE, CHENNAI

             Tuesday, the 24th day of March 2026.

               [Through Physical Hearing (Hybrid Option)]

            Original Application No.11 of 2023 (SZ)

IN THE MATTER OF

 1) Ratheesh K.R.
   Aged 26
   S/o. Late Ravindran
   Kalambukattu Nikarthil House,
   Panavally Village,
   Cherthala Taluk, Alappuzha.

 2) Renuka
   W/o. Late Ravindran
   Aged 50,
   Kalambukattu Nikarthil House,
   Panavally Village,
   Cherthala Taluk, Alappuzha.

 3) Rekha
   D/o. Late Ravindran
   Aged 26
   Kalambukattu Nikarthil House,
   Panavally Village,
   Cherthala Taluk, Alappuzha.

 4) Omana
   W/o. Late Parthan
   Aged 48
   Kalambukattu Nikarthil House,
   Panavally Village,
   Cherthala Taluk, Alappuzha.

 5) Remya
   D/o. Late Parthan
   Aged 23
   Kalambukattu Nikarthil House,
   Panavally Village,
   Cherthala Taluk, Alappuzha.

 6) Abhilash
   S/o. Late Parthan
   Aged 21
   Kalambukattu Nikarthil House,
   Panavally Village,
   Cherthala Taluk, Alappuzha.

 7) Rajamma
   W/o. Late Bhaskaran
   Aged 65
   Koombayil House, Chempu Village,
   Vaikom Taluk, Kottayam District.

                               Page 1 of 7

8) Sarala
W/o. Rajappan
Aged 63, Mukkidichirayil House,
Arookutty Village,
Kudapura Muriyil, Cherthala.

9) Valsala
W/o. Babu
Aged 53, Manjalikkadu House, Kumbalam
Village, Panangad Muri, Kanayannur Taluk.
...Applicant(s)
With
1) State of Kerala
Represented by the Chief Secretary,
Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 001.

2) Kerala Coastal Management Authority
Sasthra Bhavan, Pattom,
Thiruvananthapuram - 695 004.
Rep. by its Member Secretary.

3) Panavally Gram Panchayath
Panavally, Cherthala,
Alappuzha - 688 526.
Represented by its Secretary.

4) The Deputy Director of Fisheries
Bismillah Complex,
Building No.AMC XX/57,
Alappuzha - 688 001.

5) Kapico Kerala Resorts (P) Ltd.
Regd. Office at 52, MR Square,
D.H. Road, Kochi - 17.
Represented by its Director
Mrs. Ratna Easwaran,
Residing at Apartment No.52,
MR Square, D.H. Road, Kochi - 17.

6) Roy M Mathew
Muthoot House,
Kozhencherry P.O.,
Kozhencherry Taluk,
Pathanamthitta - 689 641.
...Respondent(s)

For Applicant(s): Mr. K.K. Ashkar.

For Respondent(s): Mr. G. Vignesh represented
Mr. E.K. Kumaresan for R1, R2 & R4.
Ms. Gopika Nambiar represented
M/s. Sharath Chandran, Vidhya A.C &
A.C. Venugopal for R3.
Mr. T.N. Rajagopalan a/w.
M/s. S & P Legal, A. Prashanth,
S. Venkatesh & B. Sasidaran for R5.
Ms. Madhupreetha Elango represented
Mr. Adarsh Ramanujan & Jai Mohan for R6.

                           Page 2 of 7
 Judgment Reserved on: 10th March, 2026.

CORAM:

HON'BLE Smt. JUSTICE PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA, JUDICIAL MEMBER

HON'BLE Dr. PRASHANT GARGAVA, EXPERT MEMBER

                            JUDGMENT Delivered by Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, Judicial Member

1.  The above-captioned Original Application is a claim
    made by the applicants for the damage caused to their
    Oonnipads/Stake Nets Nos.1, 2 and 3, which belonged to the
    father of the applicants.
   

2.  The relevant facts leading to the filing of the above
    Original Application are as follows:
   

a) There were 13 stake nets/oonnipads in total. Stake Nets
Nos.1, 2 and 3 were owned by Late Karumban Krishnan,
whose legal heirs are the applicants herein. The remaining
oonnipads belonged to different individuals. These oonnipads
were situated in the Inland National Waterways in Vembanad
Lake.

b) As per Endt No.C3 5490/95 dated 22.12.2007, the Director
of Fisheries, Thiruvananthapuram, through the Deputy
Director of Fisheries, Alappuzha, removed the said stake nets
on 06.10.2008, in coordination with the National Waterways
Authority, for clearing the navigational route and
subsequently handed over the area to the National
Waterways Authority.

c) The 4th Respondent, Fisheries Department, also directed the
stake net owners to re-fix their nets at suitable locations for
fishing. However, they were unable to identify suitable fishing
locations and suffered financial loss due to the removal of the
nets, which adversely affected their livelihood. Hence, the
claim for compensation.
Page 3 of 7 3. The applicants herein had approached the Hon'ble
High Court of Kerala by filing Writ Petition (Civil) No.19564 of
2011, alleging illegal reclamation of the lake and consequent
damage to the oonnipads. The said writ petition was disposed of
on 25.07.2013, refusing to grant relief with respect to
compensation and restoration of the stake nets, while granting
liberty to the applicants to approach the appropriate forum.

1.    Accordingly,    the      applicants   filed   Miscellaneous
   

   Application No.35 of 2016 (SZ) before this Tribunal for
   condonation of delay in approaching the Tribunal. As the delay
   condonation application was dismissed by this Tribunal on
   04.07.2017, the same was challenged before the Hon'ble Supreme
   Court of India in Civil Appeal No.4948 of 2018. The said appeal
   was allowed and the Hon'ble Supreme Court, by order dated
   06.09.2022, directed the National Green Tribunal to consider the
   matter on merits. Consequently, the present matter was
   registered as Original Application No.11 of 2023 (SZ).

2.    In the above background, the issue that arises for
   

   consideration is whether the claim of the applicants seeking
   compensation to the tune of Rs.1 Crore can be granted.

3.    It is admitted that the applicants have not paid the
   

   requisite court fee of 1% of the claim amount, contending that
   they are exempted from such payment on the ground that they
   fall under the Below Poverty Line.

4.    The Fisheries Department (Respondent No. 4), in
   

   its report, has stated that Patta No.947 in respect of
   Nediyathuruthu Oonnippad Nos.1, 2 and 3 had been issued in the
   name of Late Karumban Krishnan, a traditional fisherman, whose
   legal heirs are the applicants herein. It is further stated that Late
   Karumban Krishnan had been regularly remitting the requisite
   taxes for conducting fishing activities in Vembanad Lake before the
   Sub-Inspector of Fisheries, Backwater, Thevarvattom, Poochakkal.
   As per the above-referred endorsement dated 22.12.2007, the
   oonnipads situated within the Inland National Waterway in
   Vembanad Kayal were removed on 06.10.2008 by the Deputy Page 4 of 7 Director of Fisheries, Alappuzha, in coordination with the National
   Waterways Authority, for the purpose of clearing the navigational
   route and the area was handed over to the said Authority. The
   Deputy Director of Fisheries also recommended the names of the
   affected stake net owners to the Government for the grant of
   compensation.

5.  Accordingly, the Government constituted region-wise
   

   committees under the chairmanship of the District Collector to
   award compensation at the rate of Rs.1,00,000/- for licensed
   Chinese nets/oonnipads and Rs.15,000/- for unlicensed nets.
   Subsequently, the beneficiary list was finalized and notices dated
   22.03.2012 were issued to the owners to produce the necessary
   documents and receive compensation. On 17.06.2013, the
   Government enhanced the compensation to Rs.2,50,000/- for
   licensed nets and Rs.1,25,000/- for illegal/unlicensed nets.

6.  Since the applicants did not receive the compensation,
   

   they were again served with notice on 08.09.2017; however, there
   was no response from them. In the meanwhile, the owners of
   Stake Nets Nos.4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 received their compensation on
   31.12.2014. The owners of Stake Nets Nos.9, 10 and 11 applied
   only on 11.06.2018. Since the undisbursed compensation amount
   kept in the TSB account was subsequently resumed by the
   Government, payment could not be made.

7. Thereafter, the concerned parties filed Writ Petition
   

   (Civil) No.28267 of 2021 and obtained a direction from the
   Hon'ble High Court of Kerala on 06.01.2023, pursuant to which
   necessary steps are being taken to disburse the compensation.
   Five stake net owners have already been paid and claims of five
   others are under process. On the same footing, the applicants,
   being owners of Stake Nets Nos.1, 2 and 3, are entitled only to
   the compensation as announced by the Government and cannot
   claim any amount higher than that granted to other similarly
   situated stake net owners.

Page 5 of 7 11. The 3rd Respondent/Panavally Grama Panchayat
has also stated that the legal heirs, who are the claimants herein,
were included in the list of beneficiaries and the compensation had
already been sanctioned, including the subsequent enhancement.
It is further stated that the last tax payment made by them was
on 07.07.2008, which corroborates the position that the stake nets
were removed on 06.10.2008 by the competent authority.

1.    The    5th    Respondent/Kapico               Kerala   Resort
   

   Private Limited has submitted that it has no role in the removal
   of the stake nets, which was carried out by the Fisheries
   Department for the National Waterway Project. The allegation
   regarding the construction of the resort has already been
   adjudicated by the Hon'ble High Court of Kerala and subsequently
   by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Therefore, no liability can be
   attributed to the 5th Respondent. Similarly, the 6th Respondent
   has been unnecessarily dragged in the present litigation, as he is
   only a former Chairman of Kapico Kerala Resort Private Limited
   and has no personal involvement in the matter.

2.    From the above factual matrix, it is evident that the
   

   stake nets were removed on 06.10.2008 by the Fisheries
   Department in coordination with the National Waterways Authority
   for the purpose of facilitating the National Waterway Project.
   Therefore, the removal of the stake nets was an action undertaken
   by competent statutory authorities for a public purpose and cannot
   be attributed to Respondents Nos.3, 5 or 6.

3.    In fact, the Panavally Grama Panchayat, as well as
   

   Respondents Nos.5 and 6, had no role in the removal of the stake
   nets. While it is true that the removal of stake nets adversely
   affected the livelihood of the fishermen, the same has been
   adequately addressed by the Government through various
   Government Orders providing compensation. Out of the 13 stake
   net owners, five have already received compensation and the
   claims of five others are under process. Therefore, the
   claimants/applicants could not have a better stand than the other
   stake net owners.

Page 6 of 7 15. It is also undisputed that the applicants were issued
notices regarding compensation, including the enhanced amounts
and were informed of the procedure for applying. However, as
they failed to submit the required documents within the stipulated
time, the funds were subsequently resumed by the Government.
As and when the applicants herein make a claim before the
appropriate authority, the concerned authority is willing to pay the
compensation amount. Since the removal of the stake nets was
undertaken for a public purpose, namely maintaining navigability
of the National Waterway, restoration of the nets is neither feasible
nor permissible.

1. In view of the above, the Original Application [O.A. No.11 of 2023 (SZ)] is disposed of with the following directions:

(I) It is open to the applicants to approach the
competent authority in the Fisheries Department
for disbursement of any pending compensation,
along with the required documents.

(II) Upon such representation, the concerned
authorities shall verify the records and disburse
the compensation within two months, in
accordance with law.
Sd/-

Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, JM

                                                       Sd/-

Dr. Prashant Gargava, EM

                                                            Internet - Yes/No

                                               All India NGT Reporter - Yes/No

O.A. No.11/2023 (SZ)
24th March, 2026. Mn.

Page 7 of 7