In a major victory for Mamata Banerjee, the Calcutta high court on Wednesday ruled in favour of her government in the Singur land battle, saying it was well within its rights to repossess the land given to Tata Motors for a small car factory. Tata Motors can’t get back possession of the land but can apply to the district judge of Hooghly for compensation. Justice I P Mukherjee announced an unconditional stay on his order until November 2, giving Tata Motors an opportunity to file an appeal before a division bench of the Supreme Court. He observed that the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, and the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Rules, 2011, were valid and constitutional. He pointed out that the court had failed to see any public purpose served in the handing over of the land to Tata Motors in the first place. As no socio-development had taken place in Singur due to the plans for a small car factory, the court said it would serve public purpose to hand over part of the land to the farmers. The court, however, pointed out that the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, was unclear about compensation. This made it essential for the court to interpret the issue of compensation. While doing so, it decided that compensation should be decided on the basis of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The compensation will have to paid by the government as decided by the district judge within six months of an application by Tata Motors.
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