Vadodara civic body proposes land gift, discounted allotment to Yusuf Pathan

• A proposal before Vadodara’s civic body would gift Yusuf Pathan 500 square metres of municipal land and offer another 478 square metres at a 45 per cent concession

• The standing committee is scheduled to consider the proposal on 23 October, nearly four months after Pathan left the TMC and joined the NDA ranks

• The plot adjoining his family home has been disputed for over a decade, involving a rejected purchase request, an eviction notice and court proceedings

A municipal plot that Yusuf Pathan has sought to acquire for more than a decade could now be allotted to him partly free and partly at a discounted price, under a proposal scheduled to come before Vadodara’s BJP-ruled civic body on 23 October.

The proposal would give the former cricketer 500 square metres of land adjoining his family home in Tandalja as a gift. The remaining 478 square metres would be allotted at 55 per cent of the rate determined by the Vadodara Urban Development Authority’s Valuation Committee — a concession of 45 per cent.

Submitted by the municipal commissioner, the proposal appears on the standing committee’s agenda shared on Monday. It provides for allotment subject to specified terms and conditions under a 2024 resolution of Gujarat’s Urban Development and Urban Housing Department.

The move comes nearly four months after Pathan joined a group of 20 MPs who broke away from the Trinamool Congress and merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, entering the NDA ranks in Parliament.

Pathan was elected to the Lok Sabha from West Bengal’s Baharampur constituency on a TMC ticket in 2024. The timing of the proposed allotment follows his political switch, although the proposal’s stated basis is the state government’s policy.

The 978-square-metre plot belongs to the Vadodara Municipal Corporation and has been the subject of a prolonged dispute.

Pathan first sought permission to purchase it in 2012. The civic body initially agreed to the transaction, but the Gujarat government rejected the sale in 2014.

The dispute resurfaced in 2024, after his election to Parliament, when the corporation directed him to remove an alleged encroachment and vacate the municipal land.

Pathan challenged that notice in the Gujarat High Court. He argued that the issue dated back more than a decade and that the corporation should have given him an opportunity to respond through a show-cause notice before directing him to clear the alleged encroachment.

He also maintained that ownership of the plot rested with the municipal corporation rather than the state government.

The high court upheld the state government’s rejection of his allotment request. Pathan subsequently appealed before a division bench.

In August this year, the appeal was dismissed as withdrawn after his lawyer informed the court that he was pursuing the claim under the state government’s policy.

Approval by the standing committee would now clear the way for allotment under the municipal commissioner’s proposed terms, bringing the long-running dispute closer to resolution.

With IANS inputs