Gujarat Government Allots Disputed Plot to Yusuf Pathan, Former Cricketer Who Broke Away from Mamata Banerjee's TMC
Two months after Yusuf Pathan broke away from Mamata Banerjee ‘s Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Gujarat government has decided to allot to the former cricketer, a disputed 978-square-metre Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) over which he was served an encroachment notice two years ago. The VMC, which is controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), served the notice on Pathan in June 2024, days after he won the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal on a TMC ticket. In June 2026, a little over a month after the BJP came to power in Bengal, Pathan was among the 20 TMC MPs who broke away from the party and merged with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). The proposal for allotment of the plot, drafted by the VMC’s Land Estate Department, was formalised in the agenda of the Standing Committee of the civic body on Monday, sources said. The VMC proposal is based on a Gujarat government resolution approving the allotment of the plot to Pathan. The government resolution, dated August 13, reached the VMC on August 29, two days before Pathan, on August 31, withdrew his appeal before the Gujarat High Court against the rejection of his earlier claim for allotment of the plot. 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 will be transferred at a concessional rate of 55% of the valuation made by the Valuation Committee of the Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA) on March 17, 2026. The resolution states that the arrangement “shall not be counted as a precedent”, and that the state’s Revenue Department will allot VMC land equivalent to the value of the land transferred by the civic body to Pathan. The plot, located in Tandalja under Town Planning Scheme No. 22, Final Plot No. 90, lies adjacent to the Pathan family’s landmark white bungalow, where Yusuf and his younger brother, the former India cricketer Irfan Pathan , live with their families and parents. Pathan was unavailable for comment. When contacted, Vadodara Municipal Commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu told The Indian Express that the civic body had received the state government’s approval for allotment of the plot but the details were yet to be finalised. Asked if the allotment would be with retrospective effect, Babu said: “We have to go through the detailed conditions of the government approval. The details will be finalised shortly. The proposal will go through the civic body’s usual approval process (Standing Committee and General Board ratification).” In July this year, the Standing Committee, the VMC’s highest executive body, had begun to prepare for a public auction of the plot, and had approved a valuation of Rs 2.10 lakh per sq m — which put the estimated value of the plot at around Rs 20.5 crore. However, the proposal was withdrawn after the General Board, the top legislative and decision-making body of the civic administration, raised questions about the alleged “encroachment”–since the land had been fenced and in the alleged possession of Pathan since 2014, saying the plot could not be disposed of without the matter being settled. The Land Estate Department has now sought the General Body’s approval through the Standing Committee before the allotment can proceed. The Land Estate Department’s proposal is the latest development in a dispute that began in 2012, when Pathan approached the VMC seeking the open municipal plot on a 99-year lease without public auction. In his application, he cited security concerns arising from his public profile as an international cricketer, and said that the allotment of the adjoining land would be convenient for residential use. Pathan played his last One-Day International and T20 game for India in March 2012. He played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL from 2011 to 2017, and had key roles in KKR ’s winning campaigns in 2012 and 2014. The VMC’s Standing Committee and General Board at the time approved Pathan’s proposal. The land was valued at Rs 57,270 per sq m, or about Rs 5.6 crore for the whole plot. Pathan conveyed his willingness to pay this amount. However, the proposed direct allotment to Pathan, bypassing the public auction process, required approval from the Gujarat government. In June 2014, the state’s Urban Development Department rejected the proposal. Subsequently, the VMC alleged that Pathan had fenced and occupied the plot despite the rejection. Soon after he entered Lok Sabha in June 2024, defeating five-time Baharampur MP and Congress veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury , the Vadodara civic body issued Pathan a notice asking him to remove the alleged encroachment. Pathan challenged the VMC’s notice before the Gujarat High Court. In August 2025, a single judge upheld the state government’s decision rejecting the proposed allotment. The court held that prolonged possession without payment did not create a legal right and observed that special treatment for celebrities and public figures could send the wrong message. Pathan appealed against the order. During hearings in June this year, a Division Bench of the HC headed by then Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal (who is now a judge of the Supreme Court) questioned how physical possession of public land could continue without completion of allotment formalities or payment. The court orally observed that unauthorised occupation, if established, would have to be considered separately while assessing damages, even if Pathan eventually secured relief under the state’s policy for international sportspersons. After counsel for Pathan sought time to pursue his claim under the policy, the court granted him four weeks, but cautioned that continued occupation could increase his financial liability. On August 31, the court recorded that Pathan had instructed his counsel to withdraw the appeal, and ordered that the “case stands dismissed as withdrawn”, after counsel informed the HC that the matter could only be settled “outside” the court. Meanwhile, results of the West Bengal Assembly election had been declared on May 4, and a BJP government led by Suvendu Adhikari had taken charge on May 9. On June 14, 20 TMC MPs, including Pathan, announced that they were now with the NCPI. TMC MPs including Pathan met with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and asked to sit separately from Mamata’s party. This plea remains pending with the Speaker. In September 2023, it was reported that Pathan had been appointed vice president of the NCPI. The NCPI, an outfit that was virtually unknown before it became the home of the TMC rebels, has its “main office” in a building in Hatgacha in Sankrail, Howrah, about 100 km from central Kolkata. Its president is Jyotiprakash Chatterji, about whom very little is known publicly. In July this year, when VMC Commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu withdrew the valuation resolution for reconsideration, a citizens’ group known as Vishwamitri Bachao Samiti, had sought the removal of alleged encroachments from public plots, arguing that the civic body should clear the alleged encroachment by Pathan and take physical possession of the land before offering it for auction. The group has estimated that charges for the alleged 14-year occupation could amount to around Rs 7.5 crore at the VMC’s rate of Rs 15 per sq m per day for temporary use of open town-planning plots. However, this figure is the group’s own assessment, and not an assessed municipal demand. A senior VMC officer said action concerning the alleged encroachment and charges for the period of occupation would have to be addressed separately as “no instructions” have been received by the civic body. The official also added that discussions will now be undertaken with Pathan for the payment he would be liable to make under the concessional rates.
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