Setback for Tata Motors: Supreme Court quashes Singur land deal

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday turned down the controversial acquisition of the 997.11-acre land at Singur near Kolkata for Tata Motors' Nano small project as null and void for failing to meet the requirements under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

The ruling, likely to have far-reaching consequences, was delivered by a bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra, which quashed the land acquisition process invoked by the erstwhile CPI(M)-led government headed by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who had tried to usher in a revival of industrialisation in West Bengal.

The Left Front government tried to bring in investments by hurriedly accepting Ratan Tata’s proposal to build the Nano project near Kolkata over large tracts of highly fertile farmland and starting the land acquisition process, ignoring initial signs of protest by unwilling farmers.

That simmering opposition to the acquisition of farmland was eventually taken over by Mamata Banerjee and was turned into a major political struggle that finally helped her catapult to the national political scene and take control of the state, long ruled by the Marxists.

The two judges, who were unanimous in quashing the acquisition process and for retaining the compensation awarded to the landowners and the cultivators for being deprived of the use of their land for last 10 years, gave their own separate reasoning for arriving at their findings.

They agreed that the land should be restored in 12 weeks to the owners and cultivators after completing the survey, identification and other formalities within 10 weeks.

The apex court said that the state government cannot claim back the amount of compensation given to the land losers as it had enjoyed the right over the acquired land for 10 years. There was disagreement between the two judges on two points, with Justice Gowda saying that the land was not acquired for public purpose directly by the Tata Motors and Justice Mishra holding that there was no illegality in the land acquisition of land for public purpose as it would have given employment to thousands of people in West Bengal.

An elated Mamata Banerjee said: “We waited for 10 years for this judgement. It is a victory for the farmers. I would expect everyone to celebrate this Singur Utsav, it's like an invocation of the celebration to Durga Puja.” Farmers in Singur erupted in joy as the news of the verdict broke.

But how the directive of the Supreme Court is executed would remain a challenge. “How can you claim back the money given to those who willingly gave their land for the project? And what would a farmer do with land that has lost its fertility and made to be fit for a factory,” asked CPI(M) state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra.

The Tatas, however, still see a flicker of hope. “The case in which the judgement was delivered on Wednesday related to the acquisition of land by the state government before it was leased to Tata Motors. Our case, relating to the Singur Act of 2011, is yet to be heard by the Supreme Court,” said a Tata Motors spokesperson.

The Act is the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, the first piece of legislation drawn up by the Mamata Banerjee government when it first came to power. It was enacted to return the land to Singur farmers and was challenged by the Tatas in Calcutta High Court.

The court declared the law unconstitutional and restored Tata Motors' rights under the land-and-lease agreement. The state then filed an appeal in SC in 2012, which is pending disposal.

“Though the company continues to rigorously press its rights, contentions and claims in the matter, it has been advised that the time it may take in disposing of the appeal is uncertain. The company has also been advised that it has a good case and can strongly defend the appeal,” Tata Motors has disclosed in its annual report mentioning that it has invested Rs 400 crore in Singur.