TMC MP and former cricketer Yusuf Pathan has accused the Gujarat government of harassing him. The Trinamool MP made these allegations after receiving a notice of alleged encroachment from the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). Yusuf Pathan has approached the High Court regarding the matter. Earlier, on the same day, Pathan was given a notice about this issue, after which the Gujarat High Court issued a notice to the VMC and also sought clarification.
According to a report by Brijesh Doshi associated with India Today, Pathan was issued a notice for violating Vadodara Municipal Rules. The notice demanded that he vacate the government land. Pathan, a resident of Vadodara, had sought to buy the land of TP 22 Final Plot No. 90 near Angan Society in front of Shubham Party Plot in the Ndja area. He had obtained permission from the municipal corporation, which was approved by the General Assembly and sent for the State Government’s consent. However, the state government did not approve the deal. The Corporation took notice of this, and multiple complaints were received from various sources.
Actual Matter with Yusuf Pathan
On June 6, Pathan was given a stern notice to immediately vacate the compound he had built on the land and the land he had occupied. In response, he filed a petition in the High Court. Pathan informed the court that he had applied to the Municipal Corporation to purchase the land in 2012, and in 2014, the Corporation submitted a separate proposal to the State Government, which he claims is illegal.
The High Court questioned Pathan on why no action had been taken in the last 10 years. Pathan explained that he was recently elected in the Lok Sabha elections, and he believes efforts are being made to harass him because he was elected from another party. He noted that no action was taken in the past decade, but suddenly after the election results, a notice was sent on June 6. Pathan argued that the land is Municipal Corporation property and not under the state government’s jurisdiction, making the state government’s intervention unnecessary. He warned that if he did not remove the encroachment, a bulldozer would be sent.
The Municipal Corporation had indeed sent a notice to MP Yusuf Pathan on June 6 to remove the encroachment from the government land. A former councilor of the corporation, Vijay Pawar, had demanded action, terming the alleged encroachment illegal. He appealed to the Commissioner and wrote a letter to the Standing Committee Chairman to vacate the plot immediately, citing the need to check fire NOCs, illegal constructions, road congestion, and vacate government land following the Rajkot fire incident.
After receiving these complaints, the Municipal Corporation sent a notice to the former cricketer to vacate the land. According to reports, Pathan had demanded the land from the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. Although the VMC accepted his proposal, the state government rejected the sale of the land. The government asked the VMC to reclaim the land, but Pathan had already taken control of it. Consequently, he received the notice and has now taken the matter to court.