Singur act unconstitutional and void, rules Calcutta high court

Singur act unconstitutional and void, rules Calcutta high court - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Calcutta high court on Friday held the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011 as unconstitutional and void. A division bench of the high court gave the verdict on Tata Motors' appeal against a single judge order.

Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghosh and Mrinal Kanti Chowdhury set aside an earlier single bench order that had upheld the Act. The implementation of the order will be stayed for two months by the court to allow the aggrieved party to appeal before a higher court.

Tata Motors had challenged the order of the single bench of the Calcutta high court which had upheld the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, by which the West Bengal government vested the land leased to the company at Singur, before the division bench of the Court.

Tata Motors had appealed against the order of Justice I P Mukerji, which was passed on September 28 last year.

Justice Mukerji had held the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act 2011 to be constitutional.

The court had, however, ordered on September 28 an unconditional stay of the judgement till November two to allow any aggrieved party to file an appeal, if it so desired.

Tata Motors had been leased 997 acre at Singur in Hooghly district, about 40 km from here, by the previous Left Front government for its Nano car project, billed as the cheapest car.

The Trinamool Congress, which was then the main opposition in West Bengal, had demanded return of 400 acre to farmers unwilling to give land for the project.

Tata Motors had moved to Sanand in Gujarat in 2008 citing law and order problems, but had kept possession of the leased land at Singur.

After coming to power in May 2011, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had the Singur Act passed in the assembly as one of her government's first major legislations.