Kolkata: The Visva-Bharati university has served a fresh notice to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, issuing an ultimatum to vacate a contentious plot at his ancestral home in Santiniketan, West Bengal.
The office of joint registrar and estate office of Visva-Bharati served the order Wednesday under Section 1 and 5 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
While Section 1 defines various aspects of properties to be leased, Section 5 gives the estate officer the power to evict unauthorised occupants for reasons deemed fit for the action.
Sen was given time till 6 May, or up to 15 days from the 19 April order, whichever is later, to vacate the “illegally” occupied premises.
This ultimatum comes within a week of the authorities pasting a notice on the boundary wall of ‘Pratichi’, Sen’s ancestral home in Birbhum district.
ThePrint has accessed the six-page order copy sent to Sen, who is currently in the US and will return to Santiniketan in June.
Founded by Rabindranath Tagore, the central university has been at loggerheads with Sen over 13 decimals of land that he claims his father leased and then purchased from the authorities. Visva-Bharati claims that Sen has been occupying the extra plot that belongs to the university.
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What the order says
“Unauthorised occupation over a public property (especially educational institution run out of taxpayers’ money), however long it may be, does not and should not create any possessory right in favour of any occupant; otherwise, no public institution or road, drain etc. will be spared by encroachers,” the Visva-Bharati order said, adding that unauthorised occupation of public premises should be discouraged and prevented by any means.
“In the event of refusal or failure to comply with this order within the period specified above, the said Sri Amartya Kumar Sen, S/o late Ashutosh Sen and all persons concerned are liable to be evicted from the said premises, if need be, by use of such force as may be necessary,” the order said.
Sen to return in June
In a letter to the joint registrar and estate officer of Visva-Bharati, Sen said on 17 April that the plot was with his family since 1943. It was passed on to him after the death of his parents, Ashutosh and Amita Sen, who had also purchased land close to the leased property.
“The use of the land has remained the same over this long period, in fact, 80 years… The magistrate of the area has noted that the existing arrangement should be recognised and that no interference or breach of peace should be allowed. I will be back in Shantiniketan in June,” Sen wrote. ThePrint has accessed a copy of the signed letter.
The tug of war
Since June last year, Visva-Bharati has written thrice to Sen for vacating 13 decimals of land that it claims he is “illegally” occupying. It then send eviction notices twice within a week. His family has leased 125 decimals from Visva-Bharati where his ancestral home stands in Santiniketan.
In January, while visiting Santiniketan, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Sen and handed over land papers to him in the presence of the district magistrate. She stated that the plot leased to his father spans 138 decimals, including the contentious 13 decimals.
ThePrint reached Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty on WhatsApp but received no comment till the time of publication of this report. The copy will be updated once a response is received.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)