The Kerala High Court has disposed of a petition in a decades-old land dispute at Paryathukavu, allowing seven Dalit families to remain in their homes temporarily.
A Single Bench of Justice T.R. Ravi recorded a settlement mediated by the State government. Under the agreement each family will receive five cents of land along with a three-metre-wide access road and a boundary wall separating their plots from the landowner's property.
The court directed that the eviction order issued by the Munsiff Court Perumbavoor be kept in abeyance for one year. The families may stay in their existing houses until the State completes construction of new homes on the assigned land.
The dispute has continued for decades with the families residing there for at least three generations. The Munsiff Court had issued eviction orders multiple times after the landowner's claim was upheld including by the Supreme Court. Attempts to execute the order faced resistance on fifteen occasions since September 2023 and protests intensified in May 2026.
The UDF-led State government joined the proceedings before the High Court in June to help reach a resolution.