SC quashes land allotment to Ganguly by West Bengal govt

New Delhi, May 26 (PTI) The Supreme Court of India
Thursday quashed the allotment of land to cricketer Sourav
Ganguly by eastern Indian state of West Bengal government in
Kolkata saying it was "unreasonable and arbitrary" and asked
him to surrender the plot it in two weeks.
The bench, also comprising Justice G S Singhvi, set aside
the allotment of 63.04 'katha' land given to the former India
captain by the Left Front government in the year 2000 in posh
Salt Lake locality of Kolkata.
It directed Ganguly to surrender the land within two
weeks.
"The impugned allotment of a different and bigger plot by
the government in favour of the allottee without any
advertisement, when initially advertisement was resorted to,
and then it was given up and everything was rushed through in
hot haste, is unreasonable and arbitrary," the bench said.
The court passed the order on a petition filed by a
West Bengal-based NGO, Humanity and others, challenging the
Calcutta High Court's order which had upheld the state
government's decision to allot the land to Ganguly.
"The Government granted the allotment with remarkable
speed and without considering all aspects of the matter. This
court does not find any legitimacy in the action of the
Government, which has to act within the discipline of the
constitutional law," the court said.
"I have watched him on the television on many occasions
and was delighted to see his glorious cover drives and
effortlessly lofted shots over the fence. But as a Judge,
I have different duties to discharge. Here, I must be
objective and eschew my likes and dislikes and render justice
to a cause which has come before the court," Justice A K
Ganguly who wrote the judgement said.
Allowing the appeal of NGO, the bench quashed the land
allotment and also directed the government to refund the money
paid by Ganguly for the plot.
The apex court, however, lauded Ganguly's cricketing
skills particularly his "glorious cover drives and effortless
lofted shots".