Months After TMC Exit, Gujarat Allots Yusuf Pathan Disputed Vadodara Plot

The Gujarat government has cleared the allotment of a disputed 978-square-metre plot in Vadodara to former cricketer and Lok Sabha MP Yusuf Pathan under its policy for international sportspersons, Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) officials said as the Hindustan Times reported.

Pathan will receive 500 square metres free for residential use. The remaining 478 square metres will be allotted at 55% of the assessed market value. The entire plot, adjoining his house in Tandalja, is estimated to be worth around ₹20.50 crore.

A senior VMC official said the state’s approval had been received and the proposal would now go before the civic body’s standing committee and general board. The terms of the allotment are yet to be finalised, the official added.

The government resolution was issued on August 13 and reached the VMC on August 29, officials said. On August 31, Pathan withdrew his appeal against a Gujarat High Court order rejecting his claim to the land.

The decision follows a dispute dating back to 2012, when Pathan sought a 99-year lease of the plot, citing security concerns. The VMC approved a proposal to allot it at ₹57,270 per square metre, but the state government rejected the proposal in June 2014 because the land had not been put up for public auction.

Pathan continued occupying the plot and erected a boundary wall. In June 2024, the VMC directed him to remove the encroachment, an order he challenged in the high court.

The court dismissed his petition in August 2025, ruling that he had no legal right to the property because no final allotment order had been issued and he had made no payment.

Pathan appealed in 2026. In June, a division bench allowed him four weeks to pursue his application under the state’s land-allotment policy for international sportspersons. It also warned that further delays could increase the damages payable for his continued occupation.

When the appeal came up on August 31, Pathan’s lawyer told the court that the VMC had not responded to efforts to pursue the application under the policy. The bench subsequently dismissed the appeal as withdrawn.

The government order directs the revenue department to compensate the VMC with land of equivalent value. It also states that the allotment cannot be cited as a precedent in similar cases.

Pathan won the 2024 Lok Sabha election from West Bengal’s Behrampore constituency on a Trinamool Congress ticket. In June this year, he was among 20 TMC MPs who approached the Lok Sabha Speaker claiming they had merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India.