The Birbhum land and land reforms department will on Monday conduct the hearing of a plea by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen for the transfer of leasehold of 1.38 acres of land of his ancestral home ‘Pratichi’ naming him as the legal heir and lessee in place of the economist’s father Ashutosh Sen.
The hearing is likely to start at the office of the block land and land reforms officer in Bolpur around 2pm on Monday.
“As this case is very sensitive in terms of the prestige of a renowned person like Amartya Sen, a special team headed by a senior officer is guiding land officers in Bolpur. The district land department has communicated with higher officials in Nabanna seeking various clarifications. We have also taken legal opinions before the hearing,” said a senior official.
The economist on February 10 sent a letter to the block land and land reforms officer of Bolpur, requesting him to transfer the leasehold of 1.38 acres in his name as a legal heir and as lessee.
Both Sen’s plea and its hearing by the state government on Monday are significant in the backdrop of Visva-Bharati’s allegations against the economist for unauthorised occupation of 13 decimals of land.
The demand of Visva-Bharati was dismissed by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited Pratichi on January 30 and handed over to Sen the land documents of Pratichi which clearly showed that his father Ashutosh Sen was a long-term lessee of 1.38 acres of land, and not 1.25 acres as claimed by Visva-Bharati.
In two of the three letters Visva-Bharati served to Sen, they asked him to hand over the alleged encroached land to the varsity as soon as possible. In its third letter, the varsity’s estate department asked the Nobel laureate to suggest a suitable date and time for a joint survey of the land of Pratichi.
The state government has asked professor Sen to appear in the hearing with relevant documents in connection with his plea and informed Visva-Bharati authorities about it, inquiring if they have any objection as the owner of the land.
Sources close to Sen said lawyers on behalf of the Nobel laureate would be present during the time of the hearing along with with documents including those handed over to him by the chief minister.
A senior state government official said they should have no problem transferring the record in the name of Sen as he was the legal heir of the leasehold property and land documents including CS (cadastral settlement in the early 1900s), RS (revisional settlement after 1956) and LR (land record after 1984) showed his father as the long-term lessee of the 1.38 acres.
“We fear Visva-Bharati will try to create an issue as it contends that 1.25 acres, not 1.38 acres, were leased out to the Sen family. Monday will be the first hearing of Sen’s plea but it does not mean that the record will be changed on Monday. The land department may call for another or several hearings,” said a land department official.
Visva-Bharati sources, however, said they would oppose the plea of Sen as the lease deeds available with them did not match the records of land departments.
“Our lease did not allow anyone to inherit the properties without prior permission from the varsity authorities. We would have no problem if the record of 1.25 acres was transferred to Sen’s name as a lessee but we would certainly oppose if they do the same for 1.38 acres and it may lead us to move to the court of law,” said a senior Visva-Bharati official on condition of anonymity owing to an ongoing gag order.
He said that after receiving the notice from the block land department, they had sent five letters seeking applications by Sen, the documents provided to him by the chief minister, among others.
“However, the block land and land reforms officer did not reply,” the varsity official added.
Many on campus said Visva-Bharati’s attitude clearly indicated that it would continue to harass the Nobel laureate on this issue.
