LUCKNOW, 21 May 2007 — Trying to keep the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in power by claiming and coining the slogan “UP has the strength, because crime here is less,” through the medium of advertisement campaigns during the recent state assembly elections, Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan would himself land in trouble in one of the criminal cases related to illegal possession of land in Uttar Pradesh.

The actions of the previous Samajwadi Party government to falsely portray “Big B” as a farmer in Barabanki district on the advice of Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh would prove counterproductive, repercussions of which would turn grave for the Bachchan family as they would have to pay dearly.

The new Bahujan Samaj Party government led by Mayawati has taken the fraudulent land issue by Bachchan family very seriously. It is quite possible that a first information report (FIR) on the land fraud may be filed against Amitabh Bachchan. In the changed circumstances, Amitabh has filed a reconsideration appeal in the Court of Divisional Commissioner, Faizabad.

The allegations against Amitabh Bachchan are for possessing an agricultural land in Maval town in Pune district in Maharashtra state, in which he had claimed to be a farmer and for obtaining an illegal bonafide certificate as a farmer, he had committed forgery and claimed to be a farmer holding an acre of agricultural land in Barabanki district.

The gravity of the crime had also increased because the land that was allotted to Amitabh throwing all rules and laws to the wind, belonged to the Dalits and poor peasants.

Only two days ago, the BSP government had repromulgated a government resolution of the year 2002, according to which land allotted to scheduled tribes, scheduled caster and other low caste people if grabbed by powerful persons using muscle power and other means, would face prison terms of six years.

Chief Minister Mayawati in a meeting with senior government officers on Saturday evening had spelt clearly that during her previous terms as chief minister, there was a provision of awarding prison term of six years to the sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) for their involvement in illegal transfers of land, and this would be implemented strictly during her present term, she added.

Following the land case filed in the court, when information about the Amitabh land was sough from the Barabanki district administration, the same was suppressed and not provided. But in the changed scenario, the same district administration was swift in providing the information about the illegal possession of land by Amitabh.

In fact a large industrial group had helped Amitabh Bachchan to purchase a huge agricultural land worth millions of rupees at lowest rate in Maval town in Pune, on which Amitabh planned to construct a big farm house.

According to land laws in Maharashtra, one has to be a farmer to purchase or sell an agricultural land. So, Amitabh Bachchan had to prove that he is a farmer in order to purchase the agricultural land in Maval, for which he first tried to obtain a certificate from the district collector of Jaunpur and then Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh.

According to sources, a minister of state in the SP government had assigned this secret mission of work to the district collector of Barabanki. When the officer refused to do the dirty job, he was shown the doors. Afterward old records were tampered with and forged documents were prepared showing Amitabh as resident of 17, Clive Road, Allahabad as the owner of agricultural land number 676 in sector 702, measuring two acres, located in Daulatpur village in Barabanki district.

Vijaypal Gautam, the Dalit leader of Barabanki and social activist Satya Narayan Shukla have filed a petition in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court related to the forged land deal by Amitabh Bachchan. Now the new state government has directed the concerned district authorities to expedite the case.

Therefore Amitabh Bachchan would soon be summoned in the courts and there is a likelihood of his being sent behind bars. The state government is also taking all precautions to ensure that the issue is not given political colors.

Problems have also increased for Jaya Bachchan, the wife of Amitabh and a member of the Parliament. After “Big B” the land issue is also generating trouble for her . Once having washed her hands and lost her Rajya Sabha seat on the office of profit issue, in her second innings in the Rajya Sabha, Jaya at the time of filing her nomination had not declared that the Barabanki land was owned by her or her other family members. A complaint about this is pending before the Election Commission of India.