PUNE, India, 26 March 2008 — Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan on Monday submitted a letter to Pune Divisional Commissioner Nitin Kareer through his lawyer withdrawing his offer to donate land to farmers in Maval, near Pune.
In his letter, Bachchan said: “I myself and on behalf of my son Abhishek request you to kindly treat the matter closed.”
The letter, which was handed to the sub divisional officer to be forwarded to the commissioner, further said: “We realize that our action and interaction to surrender the land in favor to the erstwhile farmers were based on utterly wrong premises. We therefore unconditionally withdraw our said letter dated July 19, 2007.”
The actor’s letter was in response to a letter of Sub Divisional Officer Sanjaysinh Chavan that demanded that either Bachchan or his lawyer personally update Chavan about an Allahabad High Court order about his Barabanki land deal.
In his letter, Bachchan said he hoped that by withdrawing his earlier letter addressed to the divisional commissioner of Pune last year expressing his wish to donate the agricultural land, all controversies will now be laid to rest.
But Chavan said the case did not end here simply because Bachchan now wished to withdraw the donation offer, and he (Chavan) would have to check the legal aspects of the case.
Chavan questioned Bachchan’s farmer credentials after the Uttar Pradesh government moved the Supreme Court citing a glaring irregularity in the revenue record regarding a parcel of land owned by the actor in the Barabanki district. The Uttar Pradesh government had challenged an Allahabad High Court order that found nothing wrong with Bachchan’s Barabanki land.
