Idukki (Kerala) | The Kerala Revenue Department has booked Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan for allegedly encroaching 50 cents of government land adjacent to a resort owned by him in Chinnakanal in this hill district of Kerala district.
The Udumbanchola Land Records Tahsildar registered the case under the Kerala Land Conservancy Act and entrusted the village officer to serve notice to the Legislator asking him to summon for hearing, a senior official said.
"It has been found that in the one acre and 20 cents of land bought by Mathew, 50 cents of government property is also encroached upon. That's why a case is registered against the MLA," the officer told PTI.
The date of the hearing is yet to be finalised, the official added.
However, the Muvattupuzha Legislator had earlier outright rejected the charges and said that he had "not taken over even an inch of public land."
"I have not encroached upon any public land in excess of the resort property purchased by me," he had said.
When the media reported about the Vigilance department's findings against him early this month, Kuzhalnadan had said that he had only "reinforced" a portion of an old protective wall, on one side of the property, that was in a dilapidated condition.
He said he was forced to reinforce the wall as otherwise there was a possibility of the entire property crashing down onto the road.
The Legislator recently levelled serious allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter T Veena's IT company over its financial transactions with a private minerals company.
