The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has proposed allotting a disputed 978-square-metre plot next to former cricketer and MP Yusuf Pathan’s family home, with 500 square metres to be “gifted” to him and the remaining land offered at a 45 per cent discount.
The proposal, submitted by the municipal commissioner, will be considered by the standing committee of the BJP-ruled civic body on October 23 for final approval. If cleared, it could pave the way for resolving a land dispute that has persisted 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 laid down in a 2024 resolution of the state government’s Urban Development and Urban Housing Department.
Dispute dates back to 2012
Pathan has been seeking to purchase the land in Vadodara’s Tandalja locality since 2012. The VMC 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 directing 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 maintained 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 his appeal in August after his lawyer informed the court that he was pursuing the matter under the state government’s policy.
Earlier auction plan withdrawn
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, placing the estimated value of the entire 978-square-metre plot 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The proposal was later withdrawn after the VMC’s general board raised questions about the alleged encroachment and the disposal of the land before the dispute had been resolved.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 issued its resolution approving the proposed allotment on August 13. It reached the VMC on August 29, while Pathan withdrew his appeal two days later.
The civic body’s land estate department has since initiated the process of obtaining the necessary approvals for the allotment.
Pathan’s political move
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.
(with IANS inputs)
