Kolkata, February 18 – The West Bengal Land and Land Reforms Department has issued a notice to Mira Sultana, the wife of Trinamool Congress legislator Humayun Kabir, accusing her of unlawfully changing the classification of a piece of land in the Murshidabad district.
The notice was issued following a petition submitted to the state land and land reforms department, accusing Sultana of changing the classification of a 0.2-acre plot of land in Beldanga, a minority-dominated area in Murshidabad district, without obtaining prior permission from the relevant authority.
According to the notice, the alleged action violates Section 4C of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955. This section regulates the conversion of land use, requiring a landowner to obtain permission from the collector to change the area, character, or use of the land (e.g., converting agricultural land to non-agricultural land).
Under this provision, the collector has the authority to approve, reject, or allow such changes, specifying the effective date of conversion.
"Therefore, you are hereby called upon to explain within 7 days of receiving this notice as to why no action should not be initiated against you under Section 4D of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955, for the aforementioned violations," the notice stated. A copy of the notice is available with IANS.
Incidentally, Beldanga is the location of the Babri Mosque, a project conceived by Kabir, which will be constructed in line with the original structure in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, which was demolished on December 6, 1992.
Kabir, the legislator for the Bharatpur 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.