Varanasi: The Allahabad high court has upheld the Sonbhadra district administration’s decision to cancel land sale deeds covering 5.7142 hectares across 40 plots, allegedly occupied through fraudulent means, and vest the land in the gram sabha.The accused, Sirajuddin, had reportedly married a woman from the Scheduled Tribe category about three decades ago and purchased land in her name from other ST families.Later, he started settling his relatives on the land.Following the order on Sept 14, the Sonbhadra district administration is planning to use the land for public utility projects like a playground, marriage hall and installation of a statue of social reformer Birsa Munda.“The Sonbhadra district administration’s decision to cancel land sale deeds executed in favour of the woman and vest the disputed land in the gram sabha has been upheld by the Allahabad HC,” said Sonbhadra DM Charchit Gaur.The attention of officials was drawn to the practices of Sirajuddin and his wife when he started settling his relatives on the purchased land. When officials began investigating land sale and buy transactions in Baghadu village in Duddhi tehsil, near the Jharkhand border, surprising facts started surfacing.Officials found that several parcels of land belonging to members of ST communities were purchased through misrepresentation by keeping the woman’s original name in the records, though she had converted to Islam.She married Sirajuddin almost three decades ago according to Islamic traditions and adopted a Muslim name. The couple had a son and a daughter. Officials found her religion recorded as Muslim in the family register.The investigation found that a total of 5.7142 hectares of land, spread across 40 plots, had been purchased in her name, after which the SDM court concerned declared the sale deeds void and vested the land in the gram sabha. The woman challenged the administrative action before the Allahabad HC in April. However, a bench of Justice Arun Kumar refused to interfere with the district administration’s order. The HC held that the cancellation of the sale deeds and vesting of the land in the gram sabha were legally valid.During the hearing, the court observed that a person who has lived for decades according to the customs and practices of another religion, and whose connection with the original community’s traditions and recognition has ceased, cannot automatically claim legal protections available to Scheduled Tribes.The petitioner, the court noted, failed to present convincing evidence that she remained connected with Panika tribal traditions or that the community continued to accept her as a member.Praising the legal team for pursuing the matter effectively before the HC, resulting in a decision within five months, Gaur said, “The court’s decision was not only an important affirmation of action taken to protect land belonging to vulnerable communities and to prevent misuse of legal safeguards meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but also cleared the way for the utilisation of the recovered land for bringing public-use projects.”
