Calcutta High Court does not pass interim order

Calcutta High Court does not pass interim order

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday did not pass any interim order on the Tata Motors' petition challenging the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act 2011 by which the West Bengal government has taken back possession of the land leased to the company at Singur.

Justice Soumitra Pal, observing that the Advocate General Anindya Mitra has submitted that adequate police were deployed to maintain peace and for protection of the property, directed that no order was being passed.

Tata Motors' counsel Samaraditya Pal prayed that possession of the 645 acre that was leased to it by the state government be frozen and the government be restrained till its challenge of the Act was decided by the court.

Mitra, however, submitted the land was the government's property for which adequate security arrangements have been made.

Tata Motors Ltd moved the petition before the court of Justice Pal pleading that the Act and all its consequences be declared unconstitutional, illegal, and bad in law and void.

It was also prayed for an injunction restraining West Bengal government from acting in terms of the Act and interfere with the possession of the land.

Tata Motors also asked the court to stay the operation of the Act and restore status quo ante as on 20^th June.

The Act was notified last evening and government took over the land.

Earlier in the day, the court refused to hear ex-parte a petition by Tata Motors challenging the Act.

Justice Pal directed Tata Motors counsel Samaraditya Pal to serve a notice to the state government.

When the matter was taken up for hearing again at 1:00pm in the presence of the Advocate General and other senior state counsels, Pal submitted Tata Motors had come to the state on an invitation by West Bengal government and assurance of matching financial incentives offered by other states competing to get the Nano car plant.

However, an agitation and blockade started at the time of rolling out the car following completion of trial runs at the Singur plant which was almost ready, Pal submitted.

He claimed Tata Motors became a victim of lawlessness and despite investing more than Rs 1,800 crore, it had to move out.

Submitting that the state government at that point of time in 2007 was not able to maintain law and order and as the company could not keep its schedule of rolling out Nano, the world's lowest priced car, Pal said it had to take the unfortunate step of relocating the plant to Gujarat.

He said the company had been forced to take such a decision as the then government had failed to maintain law and order.

Plan panel member questions Tatas approach in Singur

Amid confrontation between Tatas and the West Bengal government over the Singur issue, Plan panel member Arun Maira on Wednesday questioned the group's approach saying corporates should be careful in what sort of land is acquired and how it is converted for industrial purposes.

"There is a question about what sort of land (and) by what process you are going to convert that land for industrial use," Maira told reporters at a Ficci function referring to the problems faced by Tata Motors at Singur.

The Planning Commission member said the blame for Tata Motors moving out of West Bengal should not be entirely put on either the state government or the Centre.

"Jindal's have put up things there, they said they didn't have any problem in getting the land there...if Jindal's can find enough to build up the steel plant in West Bengal so why could Tata's not find enough land to put up a car factory?" he added.

Maira also said a common ground was required so that industrialisation can happen while keeping the interest of farmers intact, as pointed out by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"She is saying that the process of dealing with the people, whose land you are taking, needs to be improved so that there is more fairness in it... don't take the most productive agricultural land," he said

Tata Motors had pulled out of the Nano project in October 2008 after a violent protest in Singur against land acquisition spearheaded by Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.

Last week the state assembly had passed Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011.

The Calcutta High Court today refused to hear Tata Motors' petition ex-parte challenging the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011.

The High Court has directed Tata Motors counsel Samaraditya Pal to serve notice to the state government.

The Act scrapped the previous Left Front government's deal with Tata Motors and provided for return of land to the unwilling farmers.

Meanwhile, speaking at the Ficci event on manufacturing policy, Maira said the successful implementation of the policy would require cooperation between industry and policy makers, coordination between the government and industry associations.

He also highlighted the importance of human resource and urged the industry to take a lead in developing skills which are currently lacking in the industry.

Harvard University Professor Ricardo Hausmann said India should focus more on providing the right kind of ecosystem to its manufacturing sector than giving fiscal incentives, which may not yield the desired results.

"Traditional industrial policy had focused more on fiscal incentives and less on building productive capabilities of the country," Hausmann said.

The draft policy, which has got in-principal approval from a high-level committee under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, aims to increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to 25 per cent of the GDP by 2025 from 16 per cent now.

Ficci said issues such as development of physical infrastructure, implementation of Goods and Services Tax, cross subsidisation of power needs to be addressed soon to achieve the target of 25 per cent.