UP to file reply on Amitabh land allotment PIL tomorrow

Lucknow, Oct 15 (UNI) Uttar Pradesh government is expected to file its reply tommorrow on an Allahabad High Court directive on a Public Interent Litigation (PIL) on how Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan and his family members could be alloted a land of Gram Samaj in Barabanki district.

The Lucknow bench of the High Court which heard the writ petition on October 7 challenging the 'allotment of land' has directed the Mulayam Singh Yadav government to file a counter affadavit by tomorrow (October 16).

Petitioner Satya Narayan Shukla, a farmer from Barabani, in his petition alleged that the land allotment to the mega star by state government was done by ''flouting laws and rules of allotment of barren land belonging to Gram Sabha of Panchayat.'' The land owned by Bachchans figures in the affidavit of immovable properties filed by Ms Jaya Bachchan to the Election Commission when she contested Rajya Sabha for the second time in June, 2006.

The petitioner's advocate, Mahfooz Alam has challenged the order of the Barabanki district magistrate passed on April 26, 2006, in which the name of Amitabh Bachchan was allegedly recorded as 'transferable Bhumidhar' .

The counsel has claimed in the petition that the land's status as barren land of Gram Samaj was altered in the allotment. 'This kind of land can only be allotted to landless farmers of the same village', he contended.

The petition further alleged that earlier the predecessor of the present DM had ordered on March 24 last for rectification of the land records as irregularities on mutation process of the land were detected at that time.

But the present district magistrate, stayed the previous order for rectification and formalised the hand over of the land to Bachchans, he claimed.

The advocate general of the state SMA Kazmi, who is interacting with the state government on the case said that the state government would provide replies to the court by tomorrow (October 16).

However, Land Revenue department sources here said that the state government would cite a land allotment to Bachchan done way back in 1983. They said that there was an order passed on January 11, 1983 by the then consolidation officer allotting the land to Big B.

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