Yusuf Pathan land row: Gujarat offers 500 sqm as gift

Text Size:

 The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has proposed allotting a disputed 978 square-metre (sq mtr) plot next to former cricketer and MP Yusuf Pathan’s family home, with 500 square metres to be "gifted" to him and the remaining area offered at a 45 per cent concession. 

The proposal, submitted by the municipal commissioner, is scheduled to come up before the standing committee of the BJP-ruled civic body on October 23 for final approval.

If cleared, it would provide a route to resolve a dispute over the municipal land that has continued for more than a decade.

Under the proposal, the remaining 478 square metres would be allotted at 55 per cent of the rate determined by the Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA) Valuation Committee.

The allotment would be subject to specific terms and conditions under a 2024 resolution of the state government's Urban Development and Urban Housing Department.

Pathan has been seeking to purchase the land in the Tandalja locality since 2012. The VMC had initially agreed to his request, but the state government rejected the proposed sale in 2014.

The dispute resurfaced in 2024, when the civic body issued Pathan a notice asking him to remove an alleged encroachment and vacate the municipal land.

By then, Pathan had been elected to the Lok Sabha from Baharampur in West Bengal on a Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket.

Pathan challenged the notice in the Gujarat High Court, arguing that the matter dated back more than a decade and that the civic body should have issued a show-cause notice before directing him to remove the alleged encroachment.

He also contended that the land belonged to the municipal corporation, rather than the state government. The High Court upheld the state government's rejection of his original allotment request.

Pathan subsequently challenged the order before a Division Bench, but withdrew the appeal in August after his lawyer informed the court that he was pursuing the matter under the state government's policy.

The latest proposal follows an earlier attempt by the VMC to prepare the plot for public auction.

In July, the civic body's standing committee approved a valuation of Rs 2.10 lakh per square metre, putting the estimated value of the entire 978-square-metre parcel at around Rs 20.5 crore.

The proposal was later withdrawn after the VMC's general board raised questions about the alleged encroachment and the disposal of the land before the dispute had been resolved.

The Gujarat government's resolution approving the proposed allotment was issued on August 13 and reached the VMC on August 29. Pathan withdrew his appeal two days later.

The civic body's land estate department has since initiated the process of securing the necessary approvals for the allotment.

The proposal comes after Pathan's departure from the Trinamool Congress in June this year.

He was among 20 MPs who broke away from the party led by Mamata Banerjee and joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), aligning with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Parliament.

The standing committee's decision on October 23 will determine whether the proposed allotment can proceed to the next stage of the civic body's approval process.

More in National News