A proposal to allot a disputed 978-square-metre Vadodara plot to Lok Sabha MP and former cricketer Yusuf Pathan has received approval from higher authorities in Gujarat, with the final decision now scheduled before the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s standing committee on October 23.
The land, located next to Pathan’s family home in the Tandalja locality, is owned by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. Under the proposal submitted by the municipal commissioner, 500 square metres will be gifted to Pathan, while the remaining 478 square metres will be offered at a 45 per cent concession. The discounted portion would be priced at 55 per cent of the rate fixed by the Vadodara Urban Development Authority Valuation Committee.
The proposal states that the allotment will be subject to specific terms and conditions under a 2024 resolution of the Gujarat government’s Urban Development and Urban Housing Department. Necessary orders have already been issued to the civic body, according to the report, but Pathan cannot take possession until the municipal standing committee completes the approval process.
Pathan has sought control of the plot since 2012, when he approached the civic body for a 99-year lease without a public auction. He cited security concerns connected with his status as an international cricketer and sought the land adjoining his family residence. Although the Vadodara civic body initially agreed to the request, the Gujarat government rejected the sale in 2014, citing the need for transparent public bidding.
The dispute resurfaced in June 2024, when the municipal corporation issued Pathan a notice seeking removal of what it described as an encroachment on the land. Pathan challenged the notice before the Gujarat High Court. The court later questioned how the land could have been occupied and fenced without a formal allotment or payment.
The legal proceedings subsequently moved towards an out-of-court resolution. Pathan had argued that the land belonged to the municipal corporation rather than the state government. The High Court upheld the state government’s decision to reject his request for allotment. He later challenged that order before a division bench, but the appeal was dismissed as withdrawn in August after his lawyer told the court that he was pursuing the claim under a state government policy.
The latest proposal follows Pathan’s entry into electoral politics. Elected from West Bengal’s Baharampur in 2024 on a Trinamool Congress ticket, he was later reported to have joined a group of 20 TMC MPs who broke away from the party and merged with the NCPI before joining the NDA ranks in Parliament.
The Vadodara case now turns on the standing committee’s decision and the conditions attached to the proposed transfer. Until that approval is granted, the allotment remains subject to the municipal process.
