Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who is embroiled in controversies over acquiring farmlands, has decided to surrender them to the original farmers in Pune district and the village body in Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh.
“A two-page letter from Bachchan was received by my office at about 1400 hours today in which he has expressed his desire to donate the agricultural land he has bought in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh to the Gram Sabha there and the land in Maval taluka(in Pune district) to the original farmers,” Pune Divisional Commissioner Nitin Kareer said on Thursday  evening.
Bachchan had purchased the lands claiming to be a farmer but the deals came under legal challenge with the Mayawati government even cancelling the farmland allotment in Barabanki. The Allahabad High Court however stayed the cancellation giving the star a breather.
“Because the letter is not a registered document, we would have to follow certain procedures like calling for say of different parties etc to give effect to his wish,” the Kareer said.
Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane told reporters in Mumbai that the Pune divisional commissioner had received the letter from the actor in which said he wanted the land to begiven back to the original owners free of cost.
There was no word yet whether the Uttar Pradesh government had received any communication in this regard from Bachchan.
Bachchan claimed to be an agriculturist in Uttar Pradesh to buy 20 acres of farmland at Pale village in Maval taluk in 2000. Under the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948, no person can purchase agricultural land in Maharashtra if he is not a farmer.