Pune collectorate to inspect Big B farmer status

Pune, June 3: The Collectorate here will scrutinise Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan's documents and testimonials relating to purchase of over 20 acres of agricultural land near Pavana Dam in Maval taluka of the district.

The administration's move comes in the wake of a Faizabad court order which, on June 1, rejected Mr Bachchan's claim of being a farmer by scrapping his ownership of farmland at Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh by declaring it illegal.

Sources at the district collectorate said they were waiting for an official status report on the actor's claim of being a farmer being rejected.

''This changes things for Mr Bachchan here as well,'' they said, adding that he was given an agricultural land at Pavana on the basis of the testimonials that showed him as a farmer, because as per the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act, 1963, only farmers can own agricultural land in Maharashtra.

''We will issue show cause notices to him after we get his farmer status report from Fatehpur administration,'' an official said here.

On Friday, the Additional Commissioner at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh observed that he was dismissing the allotment as the documents pertaining to land allotment seemed fudged. The District Magistrate of Barabanki had alleged that the Bollywood icon had ''misrepresented facts'' to receive the benefit.

It was a query by the Pune Collector in March 2006 to the Barabanki District Magistrate Ashish Goel for authentication of the Uttar Pradesh testimonial that revealed the alleged irregularities.

Then, Mr Goel cancelled the allotment on the grounds that the land revenue records were fake.

The official was replaced within a few days and his successor Ram Shankar Sahu stayed the cancellation ''till further orders''.

Mr Bachchan then approached the Divisional Commissioner to get the land restored in his name.

Yesterday, Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane said in Mumbai that the government would seize the actor's farmland at Pavana if it was found that he had used fraudulent means to purchase property.

Recently, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had said the government would seek a factual report from Uttar Pradesh and would take appropriate action with regard to Mr Bachchan's land deal in Pune.

UNI

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