Tatas move Supreme Court to stay Bengal order on Singur

Tata Motors has moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the Mamata Banerjee government’s decision to take back land allotted to it by the Left Front government in Singur.

In its appeal, Tata Motors has sought status quo on the state government’s order after the Calcutta High Court declined to grant an interim stay.

A vacation bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice AK Patnaik said it would hear the matter on June 29.

Challenging the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011 framed by the 'Didi’ government, the company had earlier said it had been dispossessed without due process of law. “We have challenged the provision of the Act, which says they (unwilling farmers) can come in and take possession forthwith,” it said.

The 280-page Bill, which  seeks to revoke the takeover of the 997 acres of land for Tata Motors’ car factory, was passed by voice vote in the house.

The company learnt that the Bill mentions “non-commissioning and abandoning” of the project by Tata Motors and goes on to state that “no employment generation and socio-economic development has taken place and people in and around the area have not benefited in any manner…”

“The Bill does not state the reasons for stoppage of operations and shifting of the plant,” Tata Motors said. According to the company, it was forced to move the car plant owing to relentless violent protests and had not abandoned it willfully.

Meanwhile, Union law minister M Veerappa Moily said the amended Bill will keep farmers’ interest on top. "I must tell you, the Land Acquisition Act, which has now come over, will not give rise to any more Singurs or any of these. It will definitely take care of the aspirations of the land losing people," he said.