Rajiv Trust not the owner, clarifies court

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, August 27

An Amethi SDM court today clarified that yesterday’s order for return of a piece of land to the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) did not belong to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.

Due to a “clerical error”, 204 acres belonging to the UPSIDC got transferred to Samrat Bicycles. But, the land was misquoted yesterday as the one owned by the Trust.

The Trust had in fact bought 65.57 acres in a Delhi HC auction. The land was leased out to Samrat Bicycles for 90 years in 1986. However, it ran into trouble and acquired huge liabilities. The matter reached the HC, which auctioned the land to the Trust on February 27, 2015.

The court ordered the correction of revenue records as a “clerical error” had resulted in transferring 204 acres of the UPSIDC to Samrat Bicycles.

Clarifying that the Gauriganj SDM’s order passed yesterday was not related to the Trust, Amethi DM Jagatraj Tripathi said both issues were unrelated. “Due to some mistake, 204 acres which had never been leased to Samrat Bicycles had been registered in their name in revenue records. The UPSIDC challenged it in the Gauriganj court. Yesterday’s order restored this land to the UPSIDC,” Tripathi said.