[Letter to Mr Chacko]

Summary

This letter, dated 1 March 1970 and issued by N.K. Ganapathiah as President of the Mysore State Swatantra Party, forwards to UPASI a resolution adopted by the party’s National Executive on 17 February concerning the Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 1969. Ganapathiah asks the association to consider assisting the Kerala unit in pursuing an appeal to the High Court on behalf of the planting community.

The reproduced resolution condemns provisions that would invalidate voluntary land transfers made after the publication of the 1963 Kerala Land Reforms Bill, potentially penalising purchasers and rendering some homeowners landless. It also rejects the compensation offered as merely illusory and characterises the measure as expropriation. The resolution criticises the Kerala coalition ministry and other supporting parties, alleges that inclusion of the Act in the Constitution’s Ninth Schedule is intended to shield it from judicial review, and calls on Swatantra Party units and its parliamentary group to oppose the measure.

Key points

• N.K. Ganapathiah writes to the Secretary and Adviser of UPASI from Saklaspur Post, Mysore State, on 1 March 1970.
• The letter transmits a Swatantra Party National Executive resolution dated 17 February 1970.
• The resolution opposes the Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 1969, especially its treatment of post-1963 voluntary land transfers.
• It argues that the Act could penalise people who purchased land or built homes after the prescribed date.
• It describes the compensation provided by the Act as illusory and the measure as expropriation.
• It criticises the Kerala coalition ministry, the Communist Party of India, the Organisation Congress, and the Kerala Congress for supporting the legislation.
• It opposes placing the amended Act in the Constitution’s Ninth Schedule to prevent the judiciary from striking down its provisions.
• It urges Swatantra Party units to educate farmers and the party’s parliamentary group to oppose Ninth Schedule inclusion.