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The Kerala High Court has disposed of a petition seeking a stay on the eviction of seven Dalit families after the parties settled the long-standing land dispute at Paryathukavu, Malayidamthuruth, near Kizhakkambalam. The eviction had been ordered by the Munsiff Court, Perumbavoor.
The petition was closed after a Single Bench of Justice T.R. Ravi recorded the settlement, mediated by the State government, under which each family will receive five cents of land. The High Court directed the Munsiff Court to pause the execution of the eviction order granted in favour of the legal heirs of the person whose claim over the land had been upheld by the courts.
The court directed that the eviction order would be kept in abeyance for a year, within which the families have to shift to the houses to be constructed by the State on the land assigned to them.
As per the agreement, the families will be allowed to stay in their existing houses until the new houses are completed. A three-metre-wide access road will also form part of the land assigned to them. A boundary wall will separate the families’ plots from the landowner’s property.
The land at Paryathukavu has been the subject of a dispute for decades, with the families allegedly residing there for at least three generations. The Munsiff Court had issued eviction orders on multiple occasions after the private individual’s claim over the land was upheld in several court rulings, including by the Supreme Court.
Attempts by an Advocate Commissioner to execute the eviction order had faced resistance on 15 occasions since September 2023. Protests led by the Paryathukavu Action Council, with the support of CPI(M) leaders, intensified after the latest eviction attempt in May 2026, when the Advocate Commissioner arrived with a reportedly large police contingent.
After assuming office, the UDF-led State government joined the proceedings before the High Court in June to help resolve the dispute.
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