The Vadodara Municipal Corporation commissioner has tabled a proposal to award 500 square metres of a 978‑sq‑m municipal plot to former cricketer Yusuf Pathan and offer the rest at a 45% concession, to be voted on by the standing committee on October 23, 2024. Pathan’s family home sits directly opposite the disputed parcel, a fact that has kept the issue in the public eye for over a decade.
Pathan’s political footsteps added fuel to the fire. After being elected from West Bengal’s Baharampur in 2024 on a TMC ticket, he joined a group of 20 TMC MPs who defected to the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, aligning with the NDA bloc in Parliament. His switch has drawn criticism from former colleagues and has been cited as a possible motive for the government’s recent move.
The land dispute dates back to 2012 when Pathan first requested to buy the plot adjacent to his home. The VMC initially agreed, but the Gujarat government rejected the sale in 2014. The matter resurfaced in 2024 when the VMC issued a notice demanding that Pathan remove alleged encroachments and vacate the land, a demand Pathan challenged in the Gujarat High Court.
The High Court upheld the state government’s decision to reject the purchase, ruling that the land remained under municipal jurisdiction. Pathan’s subsequent appeal was dismissed as withdrawn after his lawyer explained that the case was pursued under the state’s policy framework.
If the committee votes in favour, it would set a precedent for resolving long‑standing municipal land disputes and could signal a broader shift in how the Gujarat government handles such cases. Opposition leaders have already hinted at scrutinising the decision for potential political favoritism.
The next step is the committee meeting on October 23, where the proposal will face a vote. A favourable outcome will trigger the transfer of the 500‑sq‑m plot and the discounted sale of the remaining 478‑sq‑m, formally concluding a dispute that has spanned more than a decade.