350 acres for 1 rupee? The dispute over the land Sourav Ganguly got from Mamata government reached the High Court

Sourav Ganguly land case: The case of land allocation to former Team India captain and cricketer Sourav Ganguly by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government has reached the High Court. Ganguly has been allotted not 10 but 1 or 2 acres of land by the West Bengal government. In the PIL filed in the High Court, it has been claimed that this land has been allotted to Ganguly on a lease of just Rs 1. Now the bench constituted for the chit fund case will hear this case.

What is the matter?

The PIL claimed that the West Bengal government had allotted 750 acres of land to Prayag Group to build a film city in Chandrakona in West Medinipur district. On the contrary, Prayag Group had promised an investment of Rs 2700 crore. However, later this company got embroiled in a chit fund scam and there was an uproar. After which the government seized all the properties of Prayag Group to return the money to the investors. Which included 750 acres of land in Chandrakona.

Why was the land given to Ganguly?

Later, the Mamata government of the state gave 350 acres of land to Ganguly to build a steel factory, that too on a lease of 999 years. Now in a PIL filed in the High Court, the allotment of this land to Ganguly at a nominal price has been challenged. A lawyer of the petitioner who filed a PIL against Ganguly said that a committee was formed under the chairmanship of retired judge SP Talukdar to plan how to return the deposits to small investors in the chit fund scam.

Where did things go wrong?

The petitioner claimed that the confiscated property-land of Chandrakona should have been sold and the money should have been given to the investors and owners, where the Mamata government failed to do so. At the same time, Sourav Ganguly leased a large part of this land for 999 years to build a factory. The applicant raised the question that how can the government give this land to anyone. This land was purchased with the money of the investors and it was the responsibility of the government to return the money of the investors.