The Gujarat High Court dismissed a petition from former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, affirming that he unlawfully occupied a 978-square-metre plot owned by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC).
The Gujarat High Court has dismissed a petition filed by former cricketer and Trinamool Congress MP Yusuf Pathan and upheld the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s (VMC) claim that he had encroached on a civic body plot.
The court has held that Pathan had no legal right to occupy the 978-square-metre plot adjacent to his Vadodara residence, which he has possessed for over a decade.
Pathan had first sought the land in 2012 to build a stable. The VMC passed a resolution to sell it to him at Rs 57,270 per square metre without an auction. But in 2014, the Gujarat government rejected the proposal. Despite this, Pathan continued to retain possession of the plot.
The issue resurfaced in June 2024 after Pathan’s election as MP from Baharampur in West Bengal, when a VMC councillor objected to his occupation of the land. The civic body later issued him a notice to vacate. Pathan approached the court, expressing willingness to pay the market rate, but the VMC opposed the plea, arguing that a public figure should respect the law.
Justice Mauna Bhatt, in the order uploaded Friday, said, “The petitioner had no right to occupy the plot in question, which is why the submission of the corporation that the petitioner has encroached (on) the land in question, in the opinion of this court, is correct.”
The judge added that Pathan’s occupation “without paying consideration or without any order of allotment” amounted to encroachment.
The court also observed, “The celebrities, by virtue of their fame and public presence, wield substantial influence on public behaviour and social values. Granting leniency to such persons despite their non-obeyance of law gives a wrong message to society and undermines public confidence in the judicial system.”
While rejecting Pathan’s petition, the court declined VMC’s request to impose a fine, noting that the civic body had failed to act against him for years.
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