The Gujarat High Court has dismissed a petition filed by former India cricketer and Lok Sabha MP Yusuf Pathan to scrap a claim for a government-owned land in Vadodara. It was filed by Pathan on a 978-square metre plot belonging to Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) that turned into the centre of a legal battle between Pathan and VMC.
The case was heard from a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray, on Monday. Pathan’s lawyer Shalin Mehta asked for permission to withdraw the appeal. The court dismissed the appeal as withdrawn.
The plea had challenged an earlier order passed by a single judge of the Gujarat High Court. The single judge had upheld the Gujarat government’s decision to reject Pathan’s application for a plot. Pathan had sought the land under a state government policy that he claimed allowed international cricketers to receive a plot under certain circumstances.
At the last hearing, Pathan's attorney told the division bench that the former cricketer was still pursuing his claim under the relevant state policy. But the lawyer said the matter had not moved as the Vadodara Municipal Corporation had not responded to their request.
According to the submission made before the court, Pathan’s legal team was waiting for the civic body’s response. The lawyer said that since no reply was received from the VMC, the plea was withdrawn. If the matter could be resolved outside the court the parties would take that route.
The dispute dates back years and concerns Pathan's occupation and claim over the municipal land. The former international cricketer had sought to make the plot available to cricketers based on a state policy he said.
But the government rejected his proposal in 2024. Even so, Pathan continued to occupy the property, as the case proceedings show. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation subsequently put a notice on him to leave the land.
Pathan challenged the notice and related action before the court rather than vacating the property. The dispute eventually came to the Gujarat High Court and the court investigated the circumstances surrounding his occupation of the land.
At that hearing the court questioned how Pathan had entered and occupied the plot without completing the required formalities. The court had described the occupation as an encroachment and raised questions regarding the legal basis for his possession of the property.
At his last hearing, Pathan had informed the court he was pursuing his claim under the state government’s policy. The High Court had given him four weeks to pursue the matter. The court also warned that any delay in vacating the property could result in higher damages.
The plot in dispute is about 978 square metres and is owned by Vadodara Municipal Corporation. So the land belongs to the civic body and is subject to government rules for its allotment and occupation.
Pathan’s decision to withdraw the plea doesn’t amount to a judicial finding in his favour on the underlying claim. Instead, the division bench dismissed the appeal after his lawyer sought permission to withdraw it. His lawyer said the case could be pursued outside the court depending on the response from the civic authorities.
After his cricket career, he entered electoral politics and was elected from Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal on a Trinamool Congress ticket. The land dispute has therefore attracted attention outside the sport.
The latest development leaves the future of Pathan’s claim dependent on further communication with the Vadodara Municipal Corporation and the relevant government policy. His lawyers have said they will take the matter outside court if a solution is possible.
For now, the appeal was ended by the Gujarat High Court after withdrawal. The future of the Vadodara plot will depend on the action of the concerned civic and government authorities and Pathan’s approach to the claim through other channels.
