Tatas move HC over Bengal’s Singur land repossession act

The much-publicised act passed by West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government to return land acquired from unwilling farmers for Tata Motors' Nano car plant in Singur has not gone down well with the Tatas, who have challenged the new act in the Calcutta high court.

Asked which part of the Singur land rehabilitation and development bill, 2011, they were challenging, barrister Samaraditya Pal representing Tata Motors said in Kolkata on Tuesday, "We are challenging the whole act.''

The high court will hear the case later today. Earlier in the day, the court refused to hear Tata Motors' petition ex parte, as sought by the Tata Motors counsel.
 
Justice Saumitra Pal, while taking up the petition filed by the Tata Motors, directed its counsel (also coincidentally S Pal) to serve notice to the state government and said the matter would be taken up at 12 noon.

The bill to return a large portion of the land to farmers was passed in the state assembly on 14 June by a voice vote amid a walkout by the opposition Left parties. It received governor M K Narayanan's assent on Monday.

In 2007, the Left Front government under previous chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattarjee had allotted 997 acres of land for Tata Motors' proposed Nano plant on a 99-year lease. But one of the Banerjee government's first moves, in keeping with poll promises, was to scrap the allocation and return 400 acres to farmers.

Banerjee had said the remaining almost 600 acres would remain open to industry, including the Tatas if they wanted to come back to the state. But Tata Motors obviously feels aggrieved about the snatching away of 400 acres on which it claims to have spent considerable money.