The Gujarat High Court has quashed a police complaint involving Congress leader Jagdish Thakor and others in a disputed land transaction estimated at ₹150 crore in Khoraj village, Gandhinagar, after the complainant and the accused appeared before the court and sought cancellation of the case.
The complaint had been registered at Adalaj police station in October after a woman alleged that she and her family owned land in Khoraj and wanted to sell it to Chatur Singh Patel and Harish Singh Gohil. According to the complaint, Ravi Thakor allegedly pressured the family to sell the land only to Jagdish Thakor.
The dispute relates to jointly held land identified as Survey No. 232. The source report said that on 29 August, the complainant’s husband Popatji Thakor, his brother Harshadbhai and other co-owners had gone to the sub-registrar’s office in Sector 11, Gandhinagar, to execute documents for the sale. Ravi Thakor and others allegedly entered the government office, abused those present and obstructed the registration process.
The complaint further alleged that Popatji and Harshadbhai were forcibly taken away in a vehicle and that the complainant, Kajalben, was threatened with death if she approached the police. Harshadbhai was later allegedly left on a highway, while police began investigating concerns that Popatji had been taken to an unknown location.
During the High Court proceedings, however, the complainant reportedly stated that the incident described in the complaint had not actually occurred. Her side alleged that police personnel had drafted the complaint themselves and obtained signatures from her and her husband. The petitioners’ lawyers also argued that the police had pressured the family to sell the land to particular buyers.
The lawyers told the court that the land involved was worth approximately ₹150 crore and alleged that the police were interested in receiving money. The court, as reported, questioned whether the police could use money to influence legal proceedings and made critical observations about alleged corruption within the police system. A reference to a senior police officer in an affidavit was changed to the more general phrase “senior police officer” after the government counsel objected to the naming of the official.
The High Court ultimately accepted the application to quash the complaint. The ruling followed a joint request by the complainant and the petitioners, including Jagdish Thakor and Ravi Thakor, who appeared before the court in connection with the matter.
After the order, Jagdish Thakor told Divya Bhaskar that he considered the outcome a victory for truth. He said the farmer’s wife had earlier alleged that police personnel took her away, prepared the complaint and obtained signatures from the couple. He also said that the couple had raised similar allegations at a press conference before the High Court petition was filed.
Thakor declined to comment on the removal of the senior police officer’s name from the affidavit. He said that one person had referred to his name in three FIRs and that he could not say more about the issue.
The land dispute had also become a political issue during the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation election period. Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani had alleged that police were pressuring poor farmers to surrender or transfer their land. A separate complaint was later filed against Mevani for allegedly creating a disturbance at a police station and obstructing official work. The High Court’s order in the present matter now places the conduct of the police investigation and the process by which the original complaint was recorded at the centre of the dispute.
