PIL challenges illegal transfer of tribal land in Surat district

Transfer of tribal land in Surat district has been challenged by a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Lok Adhikar Sangh (LAS) in the Gujarat high court on Thursday.

During the hearing, the bench of CJ Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice JB Pardiwala issued notices to the state government, the collector of Surat district and others asking them to file a status report and a detailed reply in the case in four weeks.

The petition stated that a huge expanse of land parcels belonging to tribal people in Surat district was being transferred to real estate developers to build residential projects without taking any prior permission. Also, the district collector and revenue officials had erred in their duties to protect the rights of the Adivasi population. Therefore, the court should protect the tribals, restore the original land holding rights and take action against people responsible for such illegal transfers, said the Sangh.

“We have 12 such cases with us in various villages of Surat district where land belonging to tribals has been transferred without taking any permission according to the Land Revenue Code. No tribal land can be transferred to non-tribals. There is huge construction and development activity going on at these land parcels and buyers are being given title documents that are illegal,” said LAS counsel Manish Patel.