Amitabh Bachchan 'lands' himself neck deep in trouble

In a setback to megastar Amitabh Bachchan, a local court today rejected his plea against Barabanki District Magistrate's order cancelling transfer of land to him in Daulatpur village here. Additional Commissioner (Administration) V S Prasad, who is vested with judicial powers, in his order, quashed the transfer of land in the name of Bachchan in 1983 and termed the proceeding as "illegal and fradulent". After hearing the arguments of Bachchan's counsel, M B Singh, the court upheld the March 24, 2006 order of the then Barabanki District Magistrate quashing the transfer of two bighas and five biswas of land by the Consolidation Officer of Barabanki to Bachchan. The order quashed the stay given by another District Magistrate, who subsequently took over on April 26, 2006 and directed the Barabanki district administration to vest the land transferred in Bachchan's name to the Gram Sabha of Daulatpur. Prasad directed the District Magistrate of Barabanki to comply with the directions accordingly.