TaMo moves HC against Singur Act

Tata Motors moved Calcutta high court on Tuesday night, challenging the legality of the Singur land return Act, barely an hour after the Hooghly administration pasted reacquisition notices on the main gate of the disputed Singur compound to take back land acquired for both Nano factory and the vendor park. At 9 pm, Samaraditya Pal, counsel for Tata Motors, mentioned the matter at the residence of chief justice J N Patel. It’s rare for a petitioner to approach the chief justice at his residence, but considering the gravity of the case, Justice Patel assigned the matter to Justice Soumitra Pal, who will hear it at 10.30 am on Wednesday. Tata Motors has notified the state government that it is moving the petition and asked the government “not to disturb their possession in Singur”. The gazette notification on the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act was issued in the afternoon. Barely an hour before Pal knocked on the doors of the chief justice, the Hooghly administration pasted notices, signed by Hooghly DM Sripriya Rangarajan, on the compounds gates at 7.45 pm, saying that the reacquisition process will start from Wednesday. In a bid to pre-empt the move, Tata Motors pasted a notice on the gates just minutes before the administration arrived with its notification. The Tata Motors notice, signed by Dilip Sengupta, the firm’s advisor consultant, requests that a lead time of at least five hours be given before the start of any reacquisition process, to allow the company to remove valuable equipment from the site. The company has also requested that any notice for re-acquisition is issued during the day to allow officials to reach the site, as there is nobody based at Singur to take a decision on the matter. It was a day of hectic meetings and paperwork. The state government consulted advocate general Anindya Mitra before issuing the gazette notification. By the time Singur BDO Pulak Sarkar and land acquisition officials arrived on the site, members of Krishi Jami Raksha Committee, led by leader Manik Das and MLAs Becharam Manna and Rabindranath Bhattacharya, had gathered at the spot. “The whole country is watching this landmark development. Those who had said that land once acquired can’t be returned should watch these proceedings. On Wednesday, we shall meet the district magistrate and demand that the land be returned to the farmers soon. There are some rumours that the land will be handed back on lease. This is incorrect. The farmers will get ownership of their plots,’’ Manna said. The DM said the possession notice has been issued under Subsection 123 of Section 4 of the Act. “There are no legal problems. I have informed all vendors about this decision. I have taken possession of the land in question. On Wednesday, we will supervise acquisition,” said the Hooghly DM. There were some who were not so happy with the development, though. Udayan Das, convener of the Singur Shilpasthapan O Unnayan Committee, called it a draconian Act.