Sourav lands in trouble
In a setback to Sourav Ganguly, the Supreme Court of India on Thursday quashed the allotment of a 63-katha land to the former India cricket captain in Kolkata.
The apex court decision also comes as a big blow to the Left Front as the plot had been allotted by its government in West Bengal in 2000. Ganguly was allotted the land in Salt Lake area from discretionary quota to set up an international school with focus on sports.
In its order, the SC bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice AK Ganguly found the allotment of the land, made in the upscale area, illegal and in violation of the Urban Land Ceiling Act. It directed Ganguly to surrender the plot within two weeks. The court also directed the state government to refund the entire amount to Ganguly within two weeks of getting back possession of the plot. It was alleged that the land worth 44.9 crore rupees was allotted for just 63 lakh rupees. It was allotted in just around one month after getting the application.
At a previous hearing, the apex court had even taken the state government to task for sending its officials to the cricketer's residence to facilitate paperwork for the transfer of land.
The SC bench also observed that replacing a plot handed over to a part with a bigger one was "substantial change" for which fresh applications from other parties should also have been invited.
Ganguly had initially been allotted a 48-katha plot to set up an ICSE affiliated school. Since the rules of the Delhi-based board demanded a larger plot, the cricketer was allotted a bigger piece of land in a different location.
The court passed the order on a petition filed by a West Bengal-based NGO, Humanity and others, challenging the Kolkata High Court's order which had upheld the state government's decision of allotting the land to Ganguly.
The NGO had alleged that the land was illegally allotted to Ganguly as it was earmarked for a college. The state government had accommodated Ganguly's request without amending the master plan, the NGO had alleged.
The NGO had submitted that the state government violated all norms and procedures while allotting the prime land to the former India captain.
The Kolkata High Court had in April last year upheld the land allotment observing in its order that there was no arbitrariness in the state government's action of allotting the land to Ganguly.
The court also rejected Ganguly's plea that he was being targeted because of his statue in society.
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