SC upholds cancellation of patta over Tamil Nadu water body, orders alternative site for 20 flat owners

A ‘ryotwari patta’ is an official revenue document and land record issued to an individual cultivator (ryot), certifying their right to occupy and cultivate a specific piece of land while paying land tax directly to the government. File | Photo Credit: PTI

The Supreme Court has upheld the cancellation of a ‘ryotwari patta’ granted over land recorded as a government water body in Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu.

A Bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria, in its judgment delivered on October 16, 2026, took note of the flat owners’ plight and directed the State government to allot a suitable alternative site to the owners of 20 flats before demolishing their apartments.

A ‘ryotwari patta’ is an official revenue document and land record issued to an individual cultivator (ryot), certifying their right to occupy and cultivate a specific piece of land while paying land tax directly to the government.

Justice Bhatti, writing the judgment for the Bench, said that because of the orders and revenue records, the flat owners were made to believe the State government had no interest in the subject land. “Therefore, directing the demolition of flats without examining the hardship of the flat owners and the independent remedies available to them in law against the owner of the land and the developer of the apartments would cause irreparable financial injury and throw the families on the streets,” he said.