Kolkata, Feb 18 (IANS) The West Bengal Land & Land Reforms Department has issued a show-cause notice to Mira Sultana, wife of maverick and now suspended Trinamool Congress legislator Humayun Kabir, accusing her of unlawfully changing the classification of a piece of land in Murshidabad district.
The notice was issued to her following a mass petition submitted to the state land & land reforms department, accusing Sultana of changing the classification of land measuring 0.2 acres at Beldanga in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district of West Bengal without taking prior permission from the competent authority.
As per the notice, the alleged action violates provisions of Section 4C of the West Bengal Land Reforms (WBLR) Act, 1955. The section regulates the conversion of land use, requiring a raiyat (landowner) to obtain permission from the collector to change the area, character, or use of land (e.g., converting agricultural land to non-agricultural land).
Under the same provision, the collector has the authority to approve, reject, or allow such changes, specifying the effective date of conversion.
“Now, therefore, you are hereby called upon to show cause within 7 (seven) days from the date of receipt of this notice as to why appropriate action shall not be initiated against you under Section 4D of the WBLR Act, 1955 for the aforesaid lapses,” read the show-cause notice, a copy of which is available with IANS.
Incidentally, Beldanga is the venue of the Babri Mosque, the brainchild of Kabir, which will be constructed in line with the original structure at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, which was demolished on December 6, 1992.
Kabir, the legislator of Bharatpur assembly constituency in Murshidabad district, questioned the timing of the notice. He alleged that the action was initiated long after the land was developed and after construction activity for the proposed mosque had commenced.
“This is a clear case of conspiracy by the state government and the ruling Trinamool Congress,” he said.
“I have tried to get a mutation many times since my house was constructed. Then the officers concerned told me that it was not necessary. Now they are taking revenge against me for quitting Trinamool Congress. I will give a befitting legal reply to the authorities,” Kabir said.
–IANS
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