Sourav Ganguly and Calcutta High Court.
Mamata Banerjee’s government has received a shock over the issue of giving 750 acres of land to former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly for one rupee. The High Court has directed the Mamata Banerjee government to file an affidavit within three weeks. The matter was heard on Friday before a division bench of Calcutta High Court comprising Justice Jaimalya Bagchi and Justice Ananya Banerjee and the division bench has asked all parties to file affidavits within three weeks.
Mamata Banerjee’s government has given land to Sourav Ganguly to build a factory. It is alleged that 750 acres of land has been leased for 999 years for just one rupee.
The Kolkata High Court asked whether the land given by the state government to former cricketer Sourav Ganguly was in accordance with the rules or not. The court asked the state what is the market value of that land? Were the rules followed while awarding the tender to Sourav? The High Court also wanted to know whether the government had floated a tender at the time of land transfer or not.
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A Public Interest Litigation was filed in the High Court
Last year, a huge plot adjacent to Chandrakona Road in West Midnapore was given to Sourav by the state government for industrial development. Reportedly, the state leased the land to Sourav for 999 years for Rs 1. A Public Interest Litigation was filed in Calcutta High Court regarding this demand.
The same land case was heard in a division bench of Calcutta High Court comprising Justice Jaimalya Bagchi and Justice Ananya Banerjee on Friday. He asked about the method of land transfer and also ordered to ban the use of land.
Earlier the land was given to Prayag Group
The petitioner told the court that the ‘Prayag’ group had earlier bought land from the state to build a film city on Chandrakona Road. Later, as the company’s name was involved in a chit fund scam, a committee headed by retired judge Shailendra Talukdar confiscated all its assets on the orders of the High Court. Saurabh for industry in that area Rs. Land was given on lease in 1st.
According to the petitioner, the land allotted to Sourav Ganguly also included some portion of land of Prayag Group. The state gave that land to Sourav without the permission of the Talukdar Samiti. According to the investors’ lawyer Arindam Das, “The state sought the committee’s permission before giving the land to Sourav. But later the land was transferred without the permission of the committee.
High Court asked to affidavit, ban on sale of land
After hearing that statement on Friday, a division bench of the High Court said that the court will decide who is the owner of the land. Till then the land will not be used in any way. Land cannot be sold. Justice Bagchi said, “The court will look into the matter of handing over the land on Chandrakona Road to gain the confidence of the citizens. Our responsibility is to see that the process of transfer of government property is followed or not.
The two judges said, “The state should be informed whether there was an auction at the time of allotment of the land.” If not, the State should explain why not. The court should also state whether the land was sold or transferred without tender. The market value of the land should also be intimated to the state in an affidavit within three weeks. The next hearing of the case will take place after five weeks.
