New Delhi: Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan's letter declaring his wish to 'donate' a plot of land, allotted to him by the UP Government in Barabanki district, to the gram-sabha (village council) reached Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's office on Friday.
Big B had run foul with the law after it was discovered that the land, measuring 2.5 bigha (about 70,000 sq ft), had been allotted to him in gross violation of the law by declaring him as a 'farmer'. The land belonged to the village council. An obliging Uttar Pradesh administration, under Mulayam Singh Yadav, had issued Bachchan a certificate confirming his status as a 'farmer'.
Bachchan has drawn flak for having allegedly used his proximity with the former chief minister and Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh to get the government-owned land transferred in his name through 'fraudulent' means.
The superstar later used the same land records to prove his 'credential' as a farmer in order to acquire a huge six-hectare farm land in Pune district of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra land laws do not permit ownership of agricultural property by anyone other than a 'farmer'. The Pune land deal too came under the scrutiny by the Maharashtra government after the Barabanki case was unearthed.
Bachchan has been facing legal scrutiny for alleged forgery carried out in the official land records of Barabanki to insure the 'undue' favour to him. While the Faizabad divisional commissioner had held the allotment as 'forged', Bachchan had managed to get that order stayed by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on the plea that he had not been given an opportunity to be heard.
On Thursday, Bachchan announced that he will ‘donate’ both the land plots to the village councils of the respective areas.
Bachchan's letter to Mayawati, dated July 19, was delivered by a special messenger. Brief and crisp, the typed letter begins with a hand-written remark 'without prejudice'.
The letter expresses Big B's decision to 'relinquish his claim' and to 'donate' three plots of agricultural land allotted in his name in Daulatpur village in Barabanki district to the gram sabha.
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