Court extends stay on Singur land return
November 3rd, 2011 - 4:58 pm ICT by IANS
Kolkata, Nov 3 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court Thursday extended the stay on the state government move to return to farmers the land acquired in singur till the hearing on Tata Motors’ appeal in the case is cimpleted.
“The division bench of Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghosh and Mrinal Kanti Chaudhuri extended the stay on the distribution of land till the disposal of the appeal. The petition will be heard on a daily basis Monday onwards,” state government counsel Kalyan Banerjee said.
The court also rejected the government’s plea to restrict the stay only to the land owned by the company.
A total of 997 acres of land in Singur in Hooghly district was leased to Tatas by the erstwhile Left Front government for the firm’s Nano car project, along with several vendors who were to set up ancillary units at the site.
While 645 acres were allotted to the company, the rest of the land was given to the vendors.
“The stay first granted by the Supreme Court and subsequently confirmed and extended by the Calcutta High Court applies to the whole area,” company counsel Siddharth Mitra said.
The hearing of the appeal began Thursday after it was shifted from another division bench after a government counsel argued that the bench did not have the power to determine the case.
The Supreme Court June 29 granted stay on the return of land to the farmers till the disposal of the petition filed by the Tatas before the high court.
Calcutta High Court’s Justice I.P. Mukerji Sep 28 declared the Singur land law enacted by the Mamata Banerjee-led government as constitutional and valid.
However, the company was held entitled to compensation, which was to be ascertained by district judge of Hooghly.
The automobile major had to shift its Nano small car plant to Gujarat from Singur in 2008, owing to protests by farmers led by the Trinamool Congress. The party sought the return of 400 acres taken from farmers, who were reportedly unwilling to part with their lands.
Within a month of forming the government in May, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee enacted the Singur land law with the objective of returning the land to the farmers.
- Tata's Singur case appeal assigned to new bench - Nov 01, 2011
- Tata may challenge Singur land law verdict Tuesday (Lead) - Oct 31, 2011
- Singur land act held valid, Singur farmers celebrate - Sep 29, 2011
- Singur farmers distribute sweets, throw colour - Sep 28, 2011
- Tata moves Supreme Court on Singur land - Jun 28, 2011
- Judge withdraws from Singur land case - Jul 26, 2011
- Judge withdraws from Singur land case (Lead) - Jul 26, 2011
- Singur verdict people's victory: Mamata - Sep 28, 2011
- Mamata welcomes apex court order on Singur land - Jun 29, 2011
- Singur farmers file applications for return of land - Jul 23, 2011
- Tata Motors to move Supreme Court on Singur land - Jun 28, 2011
- Mamata favours railways, SAIL tie-up in Singur - Oct 29, 2011
- In Singur, farmers line up for land - finally - Jul 08, 2011
- Most parties cheer Singur order, CPI-M differs - Sep 28, 2011
- Tata Motors get time till Saturday for changing plea - Jul 14, 2011
Tags: ancillary units, calcutta high court, car plant, car project, chaudhuri, company counsel, counsel argued that, daily basis, district judge, division bench, ghosh, government counsel, gujarat, kanti, mamata, mrinal, small car, state government move, tata motors, trinamool congress