The much-publicised letter, sent by Amitabh Bachchan declaring his wish to "donate" the government-owned agricultural land, fraudulently allotted to him in Barabanki district, finally reached Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's office on Friday afternoon.
Dated July 19, the letter was delivered in UP CM's office as well as her official residence by a special messenger.
An identical letter was also sent to the district magistrate of Barabanki, about 30 km from Lucknow.
Brief and crisp, the typed letter begins with a hand-written remark -- "without prejudice."
It expresses Bachchan's decision to "relinquish claim" and to "donate" the three plots of agricultural land allotted in his name in Daulatpur village in Barabanki district to the gram sabha.
The 2.5 bigha (about 70,000 sq ft) land belonging to the local gram sabha was entered in his name in gross violation of laws of the state.
Evidently, Bachchan's idea behind the allotment was to safeguard the purchase of a huge 6-hectare farm in Pune district of Maharastra, where land revenue laws do not permit ownership of agricultural property by anyone other than a "farmer".
An obliging UP administration had issued him a certificate confirming his status as a "farmer".
Bachchan has drawn much flak for having allegedly used his proximity with former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh to get the government owned land transferred in his name through "fraudulent" means.
He is currently facing legal scrutiny for alleged forgery carried out in the official land records of Barabanki.
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.
© 2024 Rediff.com -