Yusuf Pathan (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary) Former Indian cricket and Congress of Trinamool Yusuf Pathan faces legal difficulties over the land land in Vadodar. The Gujarat High Court declared Pathan an encroacher after rejecting his petition, which questioned the announcement from Vadodar Municipal Corporation (VMC). After the judgment, the civic authorities were ordered to eliminate the intervention. The decision was issued by a single bench of justice Maun Bhatt. The controversy dates back to 2012, when Pathan, a member of the Indian World Cup team in 2011, tried to buy an open residential land next to his bungalow Tandalja and quoted security concerns for himself and his family because of his international cricket position. VMC evaluated the application, but in 2014 refused it. Yet Pathan continued to occupy property. The problem appeared in 2024 after Pathan was elected from the Baharamps’ constituency in West Bengal. VMC issued a notice that ordered him to release the government’s conspiracy, which he then attacked in court. Judge Bhatt stressed that Pathan’s status of celebrities did not free him from compliance with the law. She stated that the offer of indulgence to public personalities that hover the law sends an incorrect report. “As a national representative and a public character, Pathan has a greater responsibility for compliance with the law,” said justice Bhatt. “Celebrities because of their visibility and influence, forming public and social behavior. Permitting their concessions, despite violations, undermines the public confidence in the judicial system and determine the dangerous precedent.” The Court of Justice explains that Pathan must release the plot and strengthen the principle that no individual, regardless of glory, is not above the law.
