Maharashtra Minister Gets High Court Notice In Land Dispute Case

The Bombay High Court has issued a notice to Maharashtra minister Abdul Sattar for ordering 'regularisation' of the possession of land reserved for public 'gairan' (grazing) in favour of a private person in the face of a civil court order.

The notice was issued by the Nagpur bench of the High Court on December 22. The details were available on Saturday.

The bench was hearing a petition filed against the order Mr Sattar had passed in June 2022 when he was the revenue minister.

As per the petition, a public utility land meant for grazing measuring 37 acres was 'regularised' in favour of a private person. This was done even after the claim of this private person had been rejected by the civil appellate court, said the petitioner who was represented by advocate Sunil Manohar.

The HC held that prima facie (on the face of it) Sattar passed the order with knowledge that additional district judge, Washim, had disallowed the claim of the private person for continuation of his possession over gairan land.

The Washim court had even passed stinging remarks that said private person was "certainly out to usurp the government land," the HC noted.

"Thus, we find that the issue raised in this petition, which puts a question mark over the manner in which the public utility land/gairan land is allowed to be usurped by private individuals, requires consideration by this Court." "While issuing notice, we would direct the petitioners to deposit in this Court an amount of rupees fifty thousand to show their bona fides," the court added.

The HC will hear the matter further on January 11, 2023.

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