Amartya Sen ‘land dispute’ case: Court orders police intervention

MP | 14 Apr 2023 | Kolkata: Following a petition from the counsel of the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, an executive magistrate at Bolpur has ordered police intervention to maintain peace in the wake of the land dispute between Sen and Viswa Bharati University. 

It is learnt that Sen’s counsel filed the petition apprehending a breach of law and order situation in the wake of the land dispute, fearing an eviction drive by the authorities of the university against Sen. 

The counsel is learnt to have urged the office of the executive magistrate to maintain the status quo over the entire land which was recently mutated in the name of his client. 

The executive magistrate has reportedly ordered the officer-in-charge of the local Shantiniketan Police Station to look into the matter and find out if there is any situation that can lead to a breach of law and order surrounding the land. The police have also been directed to ensure peace is maintained 

Last month, the Viswa Bharati University sent a notice to Amartya Sen asking him to show cause as to why he should not be evicted from the 1.38 acres of land he is holding in the Shantiniketan campus of the university. 

The university authorities have alleged that Sen is in possession of 1.38 acres of land on the Shantiniketan campus of the university which is in excess of his legal entitlement of 1.25 acres. 

Sen had already clarified that the land he is holding in Santiniketan was bought at market value by his father and some other plots was taken on lease. Meanwhile, Amartya Sen had applied for mutation of his land at the Bolpur BLRO office. 

The district magistrate of Birbhum, Bidhan Ray recently said that there should not be any further confusion over the piece of land since it has been mutated in Amartya Sen’s name. The land was earlier under his father’s name Ashutosh Sen. 

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had come out in support of Amartya Sen and had handed over to him the land-related documents which she said revealed that Amartya Sen did not encroach upon any additional land as alleged by the Visva Bharati University. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/amartya-sen-land-dispute-case-court-orders-police-intervention-515160