A Crusader For the cause of the Poor, A Notable Contributor for Election Reforms in India, A Man Known for his Landmark Public Interest Litigation Petitions, One Who Contested Against Mrs Indra Gandhi , Medical Doctor, Lawyer, and Activist Dr. P. Nalla Thampy Terah, M.B.B.S, B.L,. Part Final

 

Mr.P. Nalla Thampy Thera  served as the Chairman of the Student Union of the Madurai Medical college  :  Dr. P. Nalla Thampy Therah in line with his life goals joined his M.B.B.S course at the famous Madurai Medical College, and proved himself as a brilliant student .As Mr Nalla Thampy Terah had all the leadership qualities, he was liked by the fellow students and he was elected as the Chairman of the student union of the Madurai Medical College. .He was a  convincing speaker .and  he did well both in his academic activities and  extra curricular activities.   Mr Nalla Thampy Terah  meritoriously passed  his M.B.B.S in the year 1973 and came out as Dr P. Nalla Thampy Terah. M.B.B.S with many altruistic dreams .

                                     

Dr. P . Nalla Thampy Therah's  Medical Service and Career                                             :  After successfully completing his M.B.B.S course Dr. P. Nalla Thampy Terah began his medical career as a Medical Practitioner at Wandoor in Malapuram district, Kerala State,  and rendered his medical service to the poor people who lived throughout the length and breadth of this district. In 1976 Dr. Nalla Thampy moved to Wayanad district and served  the  tribal people in the district.  Dr Nalla Thamphy Terah set up his Consultation Medical Clinic at Neelikandi Quarters, Opposite of the new Bus Stand at Kalpetta Town in Wayanad.. Child Care and General Medicine were his main areas of interest . Formerly for a short span of time he worked in the  Medical Department of the Government of Kerala and National Rural Health Medical Mission, Kerala branch. 

Dr. P. Nalla Thampy Terah's wife and Children   : Dr. P. Nalla Thampy Terah married  a beautiful woman from Kerala by name Ms Kamala . Dr P.Nalla Thampy Terah and Ms Kamala Nalla Thampy couple gave birth to the following children namely ::[1] Ms Sorna, B.Sc ,[Nursing ], and [2] Mr Akil

Dr . P. Nalla Thampy became a Crusader and legal fighter  for the cause of the Tribal people   :. . While living in Kalpetta town in Wayanad district  he had the first hand opportunity to know about the plight and struggles of the Tribal people in Wayanad district . As Dr. Nalla Thampy Terah charged a very low medical fee , the poor tribal people who lived in Wayanad district thronged his medical clinic for medical consultation and  treatment. The melancholic  life stories he heard from the Tribal people provided him with an opportunity to know about their unkind  displacement, dispossession, deprivation, struggle for survival . As a compassionate man Dr. Nalla Thampy Terah  decided to fight for the cause of the tribal people and social justice and so he pursued his B,L course and  passed his B.L  Later as a public spirited man  he filed some landmark law suits in the High Court of Kerala and supreme Court of India, for the cause of the Tribal people of Kerala, Indian Election Reform and social justice . .In this context it will be  appropriate to have some idea about the "Kerala Schedule Tribes [ Restriction on Transfer of Lands and Restoration of Alienated  Lands]  , Act of 1975 [ Act 31] of 1975.  This historical 1975 Act was passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly and this Act received the Assent of the then President of India Honourable Sri.Fakhrudin Ali Ahmed on 11 April 1975 and included in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution of India being item No. 150. by the Constitutional 40th Amendment Act. It was published in the Kerala Gazette extraordinary on 14th November 1975. The core object of this Act was:- " To provide for restricting the transfer of lands by members of Scheduled Tribes in thee State of Kerala and for the restoration of possession of lands alienated by such members and for the matters connected therewith". 

But despite the enactment the Act the same was not brought into force until 1at January 1982, that by a  notification under section 1[3] of the Act on 24-1- 1986, giving it retrospective effect.. Nothing was effectively  done  by the Government to implement that law to bring relief to the Tribals in Kerala.. The members of the Scheduled Tribes filed Applications for restoration of their lands in the year 1988 in terms of the provisions of the 1975 Act and the 1986 Rule.   .Land. Alienation has led to many a  problem for the Tribal  people in Kerala including unemployment, starvation, migration, exploitation and tension and confrontation  with the non Tribal Communities. Ultimately the public spirited  Medical Doctor cum Advocate ,Dr. P. Nallathampi Thera filed a Writ Petition in the Kerala High Court which was marked as .O.P. No. 8879 of 1988 , praying  'inter alia'  for issuance of a 'Writ of Mandamus ' directing the State to implement the provisions of the Act and directing the concerned Authorities to deal with and dispose the Applications filed therein . The Kerala High Court by Judgement dated 15-10- 1993, directed the Kerala State to give directions to the Authorities under the Act to dispose off the Applications pending before them with six months of that date. . In this historical judgement the  Kerala High Court recorded the assurance of the then Additional Advocate General that, " Utmost steps would be taken for the disposal of the Applications and that the Act would be implemented in all its rigour". But again there was no will on the part of the Government to implement the Legislation but an extension of time was sought from the  Court to implement Act. The Court  by Order dt 12-4- 1994 extended by six months. and again on 11-10- 1994 another Application was filed, praying for further extension of time by one year and the Court allowed that prayer also , Thus two years passed without implementing this Act 

        The Kerala Government again filed  another Application for Extension of Time by one year to implement the 1975 Act . The High Court of Kerala felt that the Will to implement the Act was wanting on the part of the Kerala Government and so the Court had to play a more active role to ensure the implementation of the Act. Though the Kerala High Court granted extension of time by six months , it issued  some important directions to  supervise  the progress .;- [1]  the State shall ensure that all the Applications are disposed of within the extended time , [2] The State shall immediately  communicate copies of this Order to the Revenue Divisional Officers of all District  for compliance., [3] The Authorities under the Act, the Revenue Divisional Officers of the concerned Districts shall file Affidavits before this Court once in a month showing the progress achieved in the disposal of applications during that month , [4] The State shall provide the necessary back up and support to the Revenue Divisional Officers to comply the work within the extended now granted now. 

Following the above Court directions, Applications for restoration of lands which were pending were disposed of pursuant to the said directions. Appeals were filed in a few cases but in most of them the orders directing restoration of lands became final.

Strangely however, no actual restoration of land was effected. Another application was filed by the writ petitioner on 1st March, 1996 complaining about non-implementation of the said order.

The learned Additional Advocate General  of Kerala State once again gave an assurance that the order of the authorities under the 1975 Act would be implemented. On or about 28th March, 1996 the High Court directed :-

"The learned Additional Advocate General assures the court that all out efforts will be made to dispose of all the pending applications within the time stipulated by this court and further that wherever there has been final orders passed, actual  restoration will also be formal orders are necessary today. Post on 31.5.1996."

Further affidavits were filed by the Revenue Divisional Officers reporting progress in the disposal of the applications made under the Act.

On or about 13th August, 1996 the High Court issued the following directions :-

"(1) The Revenue Divisional Officers are directed to cause delivery of the properties covered by orders for restoration against which, no appeals are pending and in which no compensation is payable, forthwith and in any event within six weeks from today.

(2) In view of the submission that the officers are meeting with resistance in restoring possession the State and the District Superintendents of Police of all Districts are directed to afford the needed protection to the Revenue Divisional Officers to carry out their duty of restoring possession to the Tribals.

(3) The State and the Collectors of the various Districts are directed to make available to the Revenue Divisional Officers the necessary man power and support to carry out the implementation of the orders for restoration passed under the Act.

(4) The Revenue Divisional Officers will file statements before this court by 30.9.1996 reporting compliance with direction No.1"

An intra court appeal was preferred thereagainst. The matter was referred to a Full Bench. An order of stay was passed relying on or on the basis of a statement made before the Court that amendments to the 1975 Act were proposed to be made.

The Full Bench on 21st May, 1998 passed the following order:-

" Heard learned Additional Advocate General, Mr. T. Mohammed Youseff and Mr. A.X. Varghese, Advocate. The above application is filed to extend the order of stay granted in the Writ Appeal for a further period of six months from 21.5.1998. This Court granted the interim order of stay since at the time the Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Kerala was pending consideration before the Hon'ble President of India. It is now stated in the affidavit that the Hon'ble President of India has declined assent to the Bill passed by the State Legislative Assembly. In the light of the Hon'ble President of India having declined assent to the Kerala Scheduled Tribe (Restriction on Transfer of Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands)Amendment Act, 1996, there is no justification for this court extending the order to stay granted earlier. The interim stay granted earlier is vacated.

2. The learned Single Judge, while disposing of C.M.P. No. 28950 of 1995 in O.P. 8879 of 1988, was pleased to grant time till 30.9.1996 for reporting compliance with direction No.1 in the order. The time was extended from time to time for compliance with the directions till the order of stay was granted. Now that  the order of stay having been vacated, we grant six months time to the State for carrying out the direction contained in the order of the learned single judge dated 13th August 1996, passed in C.M.P. No. 28950 of 1995, without prejudice to the right of the Government in considering the various aspects of the matter to bring forward suitable legislation with suitable changes, if they so desire."

(emphasis added) On or about 23rd November, 1998 an application for initiating proceedings under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 was filed against the State and its officers on the premise that orders of the High Court had not been complied with. A notice was issued therein.

A petition was filed by the State for extension of the period by six months from 21st November, 1998. However, a statement was made before the Full Bench that a new Bill would be introduced before the Legislative Assembly in terms whereof a permanent solution to the problem of alienation of tribal lands which had taken place during the period from 1.1.1960 and 1.1.1986 shall be dealt with. The Full Bench, by its order dated 6th January, 1999, directed :-

"This petition has been filed by the State to extend the time (sic) granted already by a period of six months from 21.11.98.

 The Judges said, "We have perused the affidavit and heard the arguments of both sides. We have also heard Dr. P. Nalla Thampy Thera. He opposed the petition for extension of time tooth and nail. This Court has already granted six month's time. The State has explained the reasons for its inability to introduce the new  bill within the time granted earlier. We are satisfied with the reasons given in the affidavit. It is now stated in the affidavit that the Legislative Assembly is expected to commence its next session on 22.1.99 and that the new bill formulated by the Government will be introduced in this session. According to the Government, the new bill is expected to find a permanent solution to the problem of alienation of tribal lands which had taken for the period from 1.1.1960 to 1.1.1986. Therefore, they pray that in the interest of justice the State may be granted extension of time to introduce the Bill in this session."

2. We have considered the rival submissions and are of the opinion that in the interest of justice, the time already granted has to be extended by three months from today. As already noticed, the Assembly session is to commence on 22.1.1999 and the State is proposing to introduce the Bill in this session.

3. In view of the above, the time already granted by this Court is hereby extended by three months from today. The State shall introduce the Bill in this session of the Assembly and complete all the other formalities within the time now granted. We make it clear that there will be no further extension of time. The State is directed to pay cost of this petition to Dr. Nalla Thampy Thera which is fixed at Rs.5000/-, by way of demand draft drawn in his name, within three weeks from today.".

The proposed new Bill [Act 1999 ],  was passed in the Kerala Legislative Assembly accordingly  .  A portion of the said Bill  is given here  for the perusal of the readers  ACT 12 OF 1999 THE KERALA RESTRICTION ON TRANSFER BY AND RESTORATION OF LANDS TO SCHEDULED TRIBES ACT, 1999 [1] AN ACT to provide for restricting the transfer of lands by members of Scheduled Tribes in the State of Kerala and for the Restoration of Possession of lands alienated by such members and for matters connected therewith. Preamble.-WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for restricting the transfer of lands by members of Scheduled Tribes in the State of Kerala and for the restoration of possession of lands alienated by such members and for matters connected therewith; BE it enacted in the Fiftieth Year of the Republic of India as follows:- 1. Short title, extent and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called the Kerala Restriction on Transfer by and Restoration of Lands to Scheduled Tribes Act, 1999. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala. (3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 24th day of January, 1986. . [22]. Repeal and saving.-(1) The Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction on Transfer of Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act, 1975 (31 of 1975) is hereby repealed. (2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the said Act, all orders issued by the competent authority or the Revenue Divisional Officer, so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have been made under the corresponding provisions of this Act and shall continue to be in force accordingly unless and until superseded by anything done or any action taken under this Act. Every proceedings pending before a court on a complaint under section 14 of the said Act shall be deemed as a proceeding under the corresponding provisions of this Act and shall be continued accordingly. .However the President of India declined to give his assent to the above  Bill passed by the Legislature of the State of Kerala. 

However the President of India declined to give his assent to the above  Bill passed by the Legislature of the State of Kerala.

So Legal fights continued in this regard  .  The Constitutional validity of the 1999 Act, specially the proviso appended to Section 5(1), Section 5(2), Section 6 and Section 22 were challenged and fought  in the Supreme court of India { Ref: M. Mohan Kumar vs P. Nalla Thampy Thera & Anr on 21 July, 2009, ]. The Supreme Court gave the Judgement like this :Once they have made an enactment, the legislative intent is clear and unambiguous, viz., such exploitation was possible also in so far as non- agricultural lands are concerned. Such a right conferred on the owners of the non-agricultural land, therefore, could not have taken away without payment of compensation. We, therefore, are of the opinion that to that extent the 1975 Act would continue to be applied. The State has no legislative competence to repeal that portion of the 1975 Act..

Legal fight to implement the restoration of alienated lands to the Tribals continued further with new dimension. and vigour . It is not possible to cover all the legal steps and fights  taken by Dr. P. Nallathampy Thera  for the cause of the Tribal  people in this Article,  but we can boldly say that  Dr. Nallathampy  Thera deserves our appreciation and his  public spirit for the cause of the  voiceless  tribal people made him a great Champion of the Tribal cause.   He played a crucial role in making  this Tribal Land issue as a National  Issue and for the same he deserves our real appreciation .. 

P.I.L filed in the Supreme court of India; Dr.P Nalla Thamby Thera Vs Union of India and others , on 28 October 1983 :

In this PIL, petitioner Dr. P. nalla Thamby Thhera has alleged , Violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 19 & 21 and claims Relief of Mandamus to the Union of India for implementing the Reports of Kuzru, Wanchoo and Sikri Committees ,appoint fact finding Commission to inquire and report about the numerous Train Accidents from 1970 onwards and several other direction to the Union Government and the instrumentalities connected with the administration of the Railways etc. Moreover the petitioner alleged , Inter Alia that the Railways in this country are owned by the Central Government and on account of failure  to fulfil the  constitutional, statutory and commercial obligation by the Railways, adequate safety protection to the passengers and their properties are not available.  After hearing the arguments of both sides the learned Judges did not give any direction to the Union Government but said that they hope and believe that early steps shall be taken to implement in a phased manner the improvements referred to in the Counter Affidavit and in our decision. It is not prudent and we  do not therefore propose to issue direction. The Judge also said , "And before we part , we must record our appreciation of the performance of the Petitioner. He has taken great pains to highlight his stand- collected a lot of relevant material and argued  his case quitee well - a Doctor by profession though . As this was a Public interest Litigation we direct that he shall be entitled to a consolidated cost of Rs 5000 / recoverable from the Railway Ministry of the Union Government , unless paid within two months hence".  This P.I.L, also played a galvanising  role to influence the Railway Ministry to take adequate measures to reduce Train accidents ..

Conclusion    :Medical  Doctor, Lawyer, Political and Social Activist Dr. P. Nalla Thampy Terah died on June 16, 2010 [aged 77] .at Kalpetta , in Wayanad district , after having lived a long dedicated and devoted life for the cause of the Adivasi [ Tribals ] people of Kerala . His body was cremated at Vithukaudu near Mepadi in Kalpetta.  His social , electoral,  legal  fights and medical service and contributions will be remembered for very long period of time  .  His contribution to the Election reform laws of the nation had become a part of the social, legal  and political history of India. He never failed to protest against injustices. It will be  very interesting and useful to know that Dr Monika Sangettha Ahuja  had done her PhD in the London School of Economics , on the Topic, "Public Interest Litigation in India : A Socio..Legal Study " and  Dr Monika Sangeetha Ahuja,  had referred some of the P.I,L petitions filed by Dr. Nalla Thampy Terah [   P Nalla Thampy Thera v Union o f India and others (railway services) AIR 1984 SC 74 P Nalla Thampy Terah v Union o f India and others (election law) 1985 (Supp) SCC]     also in her Ph.D Thesis . And this PhD research study shows the Socio-Legal impact and the global reach of the PIL petitions filed by Dr.P. Nalla Thamphy Terah. More over Dr Nalla Thampy Terah and his Public Interest Litigation petitions are mentioned and quoted in many important  Law Journals , Law related Books, Law Reviews etc,. When Dr. P. Nalla Thampi Thera died in Jun 2010 , the Hindu News Paper wrote  like this , "Nalla Thampi Thera Paramananda , a prominent fighter for the cause of the tribal people , died here on Wednesday night , following cardia arrest , he was 77 '. It is not possible to cover all the aspects and facets of his fruitful life and accomplishments,  He really deserves a detailed and critical biography ..It is not possible to accommodate all the chapters and  aspects of his real life story within the space of this Article  and so I will end this Article with the following sentence; "Dear  Dr. P. Nalla Thampy Therah , M.B.B.S, B.L you were  a remarkable man ,and  outstanding  public spirited human-being;  we thank God for your meaningful life and sacrifice and we are proud of you " . 

END 

By P. Babu Manoharan, M.A.  [ All Rights are reserved. This article will be enlarged, modified or corrected late in future if needed ].