Click to play videoNew Delhi: In what can be described as a u-turn by Amitabh Bachchan, the superstar on Monday submitted a letter through his lawyer withdrawing his “donation of land” to the Maval farmers in Pune.
In the letter to the Pune Divisional Commissioner, Bachchan said he would not surrender the agricultural land and claimed it was all a “misunderstanding.”
The letter was in response to the sub divisional officer of Malval taluka seeking an update from Bachchan on the Allahabad High Court's order on his Barabanki land deal.
The actor had purchased the land in Pale near the Pavana dam about 70 km from Mumbai by submitting documents that showed he owned agricultural land in Daulatpur village in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. However, the UP land deal got stuck in a legal battle with allegations that the purchase was done using fraudulent documents.
The Pune administration had then cleared the transaction after scrutinising the documents. It is believed that no person can purchase agricultural land in Maharashtra unless he already owns farmland in the country.
The ‘forged’ documents brought severe criticism to the actor as under law, only a farmer can purchase agricultural land in Maharashtra. In an attempt to evade public glare, Bachchan had then presented a letter expressing his desire to “donate” the said land.
Land-ing in trouble
Uttar Pradesh on Monday moved the Supreme Court in a case pertaining to alleged fraudulent allotment of government land to Amitabh Bachchan in Barabanki district, challenging the reprieve granted to the actor by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court.
The appeal has sought to draw the Supreme Court's attention towards the dichotomy in the High Court order.
Bachchan was charged with committing 'forgery' and 'fraud' in getting his name entered in the official revenue records in Daulatpur village of Barabanki district, about 40 km from Lucknow.
While the entry in the land records of Daulatpur was shown to have been made way back in 1983, state revenue officials had found that it was forged later when former UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was in power.
The present Uttar Pradesh government believes that the forgery was committed essentially to arm Bachchan with a testimonial certifying that he was owner of some agricultural land and thereby qualified as a 'farmer' – a status required by him to retain his hold over a six-hectare farm in Pune.
(With agency inputs)
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