Builders,politicians seek withdrawal of collector’s order

“They both had come to plead with revenue officers to withdraw certain orders passed by the office of the collector on their land,” a top officer in the collectorate said on the condition of anonymity.

Incidentally,Rao had stayed order granting permission for non-agricultural (NA) use of a huge tract of land owned by Gaud on the outskirt of the city last month. The collector’s order stated that the piece of land was originally of restrictive tenure or New Tenure and state exchequer had sustained losses worth Rs 16 crore in premium due to the land classified as Old Tenure.

Land owned by Prajapati and his family members in various parts of the city are also under the scanner for similar reasons. Sources in collector’s office on Wednesday said Congress leader Suresh Patel and other builders of the city had also visited the collector after the orders was passed on Saturday.

In the instructions passed on Saturday,Rao asked his subordinate revenue officers not to allow any type of transaction on land in which persons who have become agriculturalist through will have stakes. The collector has given reference of a 2009 Gujarat High Court verdict declaring agriculturalist status acquired through will void.

Revenue officers say the order is likely to affect almost all the small and big builders as it will have implications for land worth around Rs 1,500 crore in and around the city. This,in turn,is likely to affect many real estate projects.

Incidentally,Rao had recently declared city builder Sanjiv Bharabe’s status as an agriculturalist acquired through a will and ordered confiscation of plots of land in which he had stakes.