Ahmedabad, Aug 31 The Gujarat High Court on Monday dismissed as withdrawn a plea of former India cricketer and Lok Sabha MP Yusuf Pathan's appeal against a single judge order passed in August last year, calling him an "encroacher" on a piece of government land in Vadodara.
Pathan's lawyer Shalin Mehta requested a division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray for withdrawal of the plea even as his claim was being pursued under the state policy.
The division bench dismissed the plea as withdrawn.
Pathan had challenged a single-judge order that upheld the Gujarat government's decision to reject his request for the allotment of the 978-square metre land belonging to the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). The former international cricketer had claimed the land under a state policy.
During a previous hearing, the 43-year-old retired cricketer had submitted before the court that he was pursuing his claim on the plot of land under a state government scheme, and was given time for the same.
While granting him four weeks, the HC had warned him of higher payment of damages for more time Pathan took to vacate the land.
In his submission on Monday, Pathan's lawyer told the court that they were waiting for the VMC to respond, but haven't heard anything from civic authorities.
"Because we are saying that there is a circular which allows international cricketers to be given a plot. I think I will withdraw because I haven't heard anything from them (VMC). I have taken instructions from my client...if it is to happen, it will happen outside the court; otherwise it won't happen," Mehta submitted.
Despite the rejection of his claim in 2024, Pathan continued to occupy the land in question. In 2024, following his election from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal on a Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket, the VMC sent him a notice to vacate the land, which he refused and challenged the matter in the court.
During a hearing on June 8, the court had come down heavily on Pathan for "encroachment" of the plot and orally asked how he could enter and occupy it without completing any formalities.
