Vindication for Tata Motors as HC rules Singur Act invalid

Delivering a blow to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress, the Calcutta High Court today struck down the state legislation seeking to return land acquired for Tata Motors to the farmers from whom it was taken.

Ruling in favour of Tata Motors, a two-judge bench of the court comprising Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Mrinal Kanti Chaudhuri held that the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act 2011 was unconstitutional and void. The court gave the West Bengal government two months to appeal to the Supreme Court before its order became operational.

Banerjee rode to power on the back of her agitation for returning the land acquired by the previous Left Front government for Tata Motors' Nano car plant, to farmers, many of whom were reluctant to cede the land.

The Singur Act was the first legislation cleared after Mamata became chief minister. The act empowered the state government to reclaim 1,000 acres at the Tata site in Singur, abandoned by the company in the wake of the agitation.

The judgement said, "The Singur Act is in direct conflict with the existing Land Acquisition Act of 1894. So if a state legislature wants to enact a land acquisition act of its own, it should seek clearance from the centre … Presidential assent is necessary, which the state did not take. Returning land to only a portion of farmers cannot be called public purpose."

In May 2006, the Left government leased plot to Tata for 99 years and subsequently, the Trinamool Congress demanded that land should be returned to farmers. In October 2008, Tata Motors decided to move the Nano plant out of West Bengal.

An earlier judgment by Justice I  P Mukerji had held the Act to be "constitutional and valid". This ruling was challenged by Tata Motors in the high court in November 2011.

The verdict came just before 11:00 am today. It said that Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Act were unconstitutional.