Former India cricketer and newly-elected Trinamul Congress (TMC) MP Yusuf Pathan on Thursday approached the Gujarat High Court against a notice issued by the Vadodara civic body, asking him to remove the alleged encroachment on a piece of land owned by it in the city.
In his plea, Pathan said since the matter is over 10-years-old now and the plot in question is also in his possession, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) should have given him a chance by issuing a show-cause notice instead of a notice that asked him to "clear the encroachment" and free the VMC-owned plot.
He also argued that the Gujarat government, which rejected the VMC's proposal to sell the land to Pathan in 2014, cannot deny the sale of land because it belonged to the civic body and not the state government.
After hearing arguments presented by senior advocate Yatin Oza, who appeared for Pathan, a single judge bench comprising Justice Sangeeta Vishen asked the VMC's lawyer to put forward the civic body's side in the next hearing scheduled on Friday.
Pathan, a former all-rounder, lives in Tadalja area of Vadodara and the plot in question is adjacent to his residence. He won from the Baharampur constituency (in Murshidabad district of West Bengal) in the Lok Sabha polls the results of which were announced on June 4.
On June 6, two days after the poll results, the BJP-ruled VMC sent a notice to Pathan for allegedly encroaching on a plot of land the civic body said belongs to it.
Oza tried to link Pathan's election as a TMC MP with the notice, saying the VMC did nothing for 10 years and suddenly sent a notice just two days after the poll results.
When Oza tried to suggest that Pathan was served notice because "his party is different", Justice Vishen asked the lawyer not to deviate and stick to the main issue.
As per the case details, it is a residential plot owned by the VMC. In 2012, Pathan had demanded this plot from the VMC because his house was adjacent to that plot. He had offered to buy it as per the market rate.
Though the proposal to sell the land to Pathan was cleared by the VMC in 2014, the state government, which is the final authority in such matters, did not give its approval. However, the land remained in "possession" of Pathan since then, Oza said.
When the court said the state government has such rights, Oza said a corporation, not the state, is the final authority in such matters as per the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act (GPMC Act) if the land belongs to the civic body and not the state government.
Oza said the VMC had decided to give this plot to Yusuf Pathan and his cricketer brother Irfan Pathan for their contribution as they were in the Indian team when this proposal was cleared. He argued that the VMC should have allotted the land when the proposal was cleared by it.
"They (VMC) should not have gone to the state government for approval. The issue was now raked up after 10 years and instead of a show-cause notice, a direct notice has been served now. As per the law, the state government's approval is not needed. VMC admitted in the notice that I am in possession of this land. I urge that this notice be treated as a show-cause notice. Otherwise bulldozers will come," said Oza.
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