Will study court verdict on Singur land: Tata Motors

Tata Motors today said it will study the Calcutta High Court verdict that held as unconstitutional' an Act under which the West Bengal government had vested land at Singur leased to the auto major.

"Tata Motors will study the judgement of the Calcutta High Court," a company spokesperson said.

In a setback to the Mamata Banerjee-led government, the High Court today held as unconstitutional and void the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011.

Under the Act, the state had vested land leased to Tata Motors by the previous Left Front government at Singur in Hooghly district, about 40 km from Kolkata where small car Nano was originally supposed to be manufactured.

Giving its verdict on an appeal by Tata Motors, a division bench comprising justices Pinaki Chandra Ghosh and Mrinal Kanti Chaudhury observed that the Presidential assent was not sought for the Act.

The bench set aside the order of justice IP Mukerji who had upheld the Act, passed on September 28 last year. Tata Motors had challenged the single bench order.

Tata Motors had been leased 997 acres at Singur for its Nano car project. The then Opposition Trinamool Congress had demanded return of 400 acres to farmers unwilling to give land for the project.

As opposition to the plant grew, Tata Motors had moved its Nano small car factory to Sanand in Gujarat in 2008, but 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 legislative measures.