Builders, leaders accused of collusion to usurp disputed land in Surat’s Rander

Updated: Sep 25th, 2024


A land in Surat’s Rander that has been at the centre of controversy over the years, has landed in the court again. The court has ordered that action against two trustees, aged 75 and 82, associated with the land to be halted. It has also rebuked the investigating officer and eco cell inspector.

Prominent leaders and the builder lobby are eyeing the land in question, that falls under survey nos 259, 268, 337, and 338, in Rander’s Gorat. They reportedly intend to pass on the land to the police, after taking it away from the trust.

Sources believe that the police, eager to appease the leaders, have taken action against the elderly trust members. Former commissioner Ajay Tomar had ordered the filing of the disputed land case. Acting on it, the current commissioner A S Gehlot’s Eco Cell detained the two senior trust members.

Timeline of dispute

Dating back to 1928, the land was brought under the ownership of the trust to be used for educational purpose. The land belongs to a Waqf fund trust of Fatmabibi and Khatijabi since 1954.

The land was also announced as Non-Agricultural (NA) under section 88 (B) of the Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act.

Despite this, tenant farmers were using the land for agricultural activities at the time, and multiple applications were made to transfer the land to tenant farmers between 1963 and 1965. However, the mamlatdar of the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department had rejected it.

However, when new revenue records were made in 1971, the tenant farmers were made owners of the land. In 1974-75, the name of the trust was missing from the land records.

The land documents claiming ownership of the land with the tenant farmers had the authentication of Bardoli's Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department in 1971, despite the land located in Rander. Moreover, the department came into existence in 1976, proving that the documents were forged.

It is believed that one of the tenants, Nagar Jeevan, who was active in the collector's office as deputy mamlatdar, had forged the ownership in the name of tenant farmers.

The trust had applied multiple times to acquire the original ownership document. When they did not receive it, the trust had also filed a petition in the high court.

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Gujarat