Farmland case: HC offers Big B some respite

In a breather for Amitabh Bachchan, the Allahabad High Court on Friday stayed an order of a Faizabad court cancelling the allotment of farmland to the megastar in Uttar Pradesh saying it had acted in a 'hasty manner.'

In his seven page order, the single judge of the Lucknow bench Justice D P Singh granted the stay while admitting Bachchan's petition challenging the June one order of Faizabad's additional commissioner.

Justice Singh said the commissioner prima facie exceeded his jurisdiction and violated the principles of natural justice in quashing the transfer of farmland to Bachchan in Daulatpur village in Barabanki district.

"There was no urgency in the matter for the court (additional commissioner) to move in a hasty way and decide the controversy at admission stage without considering the statutory provisions. Prima facie it seems to have exceeded its jurisdiction," the judge observed.

Elaborating on the Commissioner violating the principles of natural justice, Justice Singh said: "The concept of the rule of law shall lose its validity if the state is permitted to discharge its function in an unfair and unjust manner."     

"The concept of natural justice is aimed at securing justice... natural justice is the antithesis of arbitrariness," the judge said.

The court also said that the additional commissioner's court erred in recording the findings on the commission of fraud and forgery at the revisional stage and should have left it to the trial court.

The additional commissioner had ruled that land was allotted to Bachchan through fraudulent means.

Meanwhile, a writ petition has been filed by a journalist Jagadish Narain Shukla for a CBI probe in Bachchan's land deal.