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'Amitabh Bachchan is not a farmer'
02nd June 2007 10.01 IST
By Agencies

The commissioner's court at Faizabad on Friday dismissed a review writ filed by Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the controversial farming land allotment case, clarifying that he was not a farmer in Uttar Pradesh.

It was seen as a major blow to Mr. Bachchan.

Additional Commissioner Vidya Sagar Prasad in his judgment dismissed the writ in which the actor had sought review of an order of the Barabanki District Magistrate quashing the allotment of a government farming land to him citing violation of rules.

In a tightly packed courtroom, the additional commissioner observed that he was dismissing the allotment as the documents pertaining to land allotment seemed fudged.

Since it is a lower court, the Big B can move a higher court in the near future.

On May 29, the Commissioner's court had reserved the judgment after the 15th hearing of the case.

The previous Mulayam Singh Yadav government had allotted three bighas (about 70,000 sq ft) of prime land in Barabanki district to Mr. Bachchan, a close confidante of the Samajwadi Party.

The District Magistrate Barabanki had alleged that the Bollywood icon had ''misrepresented facts'' to receive the benefit.

Later, Mr. Bachchan also reportedly used the allotment as a testimonial to establish his credentials as a farmer to buy agricultural land in Pune, Maharashtra, as the state's rules do not permit anyone other than a farmer to purchase such land.

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

Then Barabanki District Magistrate Ashish 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.

Recently, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had said the state government would seek a factual report from Uttar Pradesh and would take appropriate action as regards his land deal in Pune district.

Under Maharashtra's Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act 1963, only farmers can buy agricultural land and Mr. Bachchan stood to lose the 24 acres in Maval in Pune district if he fails to prove that he was a 'farmer'.

As per rules in UP, gram sabha land can be allotted on the basis of the three priorities: The land must be first offered to landless dalits, then to landless farmers (general) and then to the rest. But there is one basic condition that remains unaltered in all these categories: The person to whom the land is allotted must be a resident of the village where the gram sabha land in question is situated.

Recently, Mr. Bachchan had said he was ready to face probe in the matter. Talking to a news channel, he said: ''I am a law-abiding citizen and will obey whatever the law asks me to do. If proved wrong, we are ready to face penalty.'' ''If everything is found to be in order, I would say thank you,'' the actor added.

Mr. Bachchan also refused to comment on Mayawati government's decision to probe the legality of the land allotment in Barbanki district, but maintained that the property papers given to him by the government were in order.

''Now, the government is saying that it should be probed... I am ready,'' he added.

The Election Commission had sought a report from the district administration following a complaint that Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan had not mentioned the said property in her declaration at the time of filing nomination for the Rajya Sabha poll in 2006.

State Principal Secretary (Assembly) R P Pandey probing the matter will pronounce his decision next week.

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