Revenue plots allotted only after following rules: Gujarat govt defends move to gift land to Yusuf Pathan

THE GUJARAT government on Wednesday defended its decision to approve allotment of a disputed plot of land to former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, who recently broke away from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and joined hands with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), with government spokesperson and senior minister Jitu Vaghani saying that such an approval could be done “only after following prevailing rules & regulations.”

Vaghani also pointed out that the BJP government in the state has been facilitating allotments or regularising land parcels for the common public as well. He was interacting with mediapersons after the weekly briefing following a state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

The Gujarat government recently passed a resolution giving approval for the allotment of the 978 square-metre (sq m) plot of land to Pathan by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). The government resolution states that 500 sq m of the plot will be allotted as a gift to Pathan for residential use, and the remaining 478 sq m would be transferred at a concessional rate of 55 per cent (%) of the valuation made by the Valuation Committee of the Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA).

In June 2024, the VMC served an encroachment notice to Pathan over the plot. Earlier, in 2012, Pathan sought the plot from the civic body on a 99-year lease without public auction.

Responding to a question related to the approval of allotment of a plot of land to Pathan in Vadodara, Vaghani said in Gujarati, “I do not have the full details, but revenue plots can be allotted only after following administrative procedures. It is being done on the basis of rules and regulations, laws and powers. It doesn’t work like this — where I can just decide, ‘Let me give this to you, or let me give it to someone else.’ The plot must have been allotted by the respective department in accordance with the prevailing norms, policies, and rules.”

Subsequently, when his attention was drawn to allegations levelled by the Congress party regarding the matter that the Gujarat government “changed its decision” after Pathan forged an alliance (with the BJP-led NDA) at the Centre, Vaghani said, “They (Congress) have the right to make allegations, so I have nothing to say about that. It would have been better if the Congress had spoken up about this sooner. After all, the issue regarding the plot had surfaced even back when they (Congress) were warming up to him (Pathan, when he was associated with the TMC). Where was the Congress’s voice then?”

Vaghani suggested that if any matter comes before the government regarding the regularisation of anyone — and not just Yusuf Pathan, but to anyone — it is only natural that such regularisation would apply to any common citizen.

Story continues below this ad

In this context, Vaghani added, “Many such decisions have been taken, but these tend to be discussed if a prominent figure is involved. However, the Chief Minister has taken numerous decisions — ensuring that ordinary citizens also receive their entitlements as per rules — and we will continue to do so in the future.”

In a connected development, Vadodara Congress corporator Deepa Srivastava on Wednesday objected to the proposed allotment of the plot to Pathan.

In an objection dated October 21, Srivastava, who represents VMC’s Ward 14, urged the authorities to examine the government orders, file notings, competent authority’s approvals and decisions of civic committees. She also sought a review of the concessions and whether a public auction had been considered, and called for the final allotment and transfer to be kept on hold until the inquiry was completed, wherever legally permissible.

“Until the inquiry is completed, the process of final allotment and transfer should be kept in abeyance, wherever legally permissible,” she said in her objection, seeking a reasoned decision that ensures “the protection of public property, transparency, equality and public interest”.

Story continues below this ad

Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Nishant Raval also raised questions over the proposal, which provided for 500 sq m of the plot to be allotted free of cost and the remaining 478 sq m at a 45% concession on the government valuation.

Raval said Pathan originally sought the plot in 2012 and claimed that the authorities acted on the request “after 14 years… without any explanation”. He alleged that the decision followed Pathan’s alignment with the BJP-led NDA and questioned whether similar concessions would be extended to poor and middle-class families unable to afford homes.

“The question is simple… when he (Pathan) was an international cricketer, did this corporation (VMC) not realise that he deserved to be honoured?” Raval said. He warned that the Congress would launch an agitation until the municipal corporation withdrew its resolution.