After a decade the Supreme Court has quashed acquisition of land at Singur for Nano car project of Tata Motors and instructed the Trinomool govt to return the land to both ‘willing’ and ‘unwilling’ land owners.Willng land owners are those who received compensation from the then Left Front govt and the unwilling ones refused to accept the cheques for compensation. Then land was acquired based on the Land Acquisition law of 1894.This law framed by the British govt in India had hardly any space for the land owners to oppose land acquisition for ‘public purposes’. In apex court two judges(two-judge bench) however, differed on the point if the acquisition of land for car project of a private company like Tata Motors, constitute’ public interest’. What went against the L.F govt was their hastiness, arrogance, highhandedness with which they acquired land blatantly ignoring the voice of unwilling farmers, though their intention to bring in a heavy industry in the state for employment generation was unquestionable..That apart, multi crop land was also acquired and it grossly affected agricultural production
In Singur fiasco, so far as the the installation of Nano car factory is concerned that could have changed the industrial scenario of the state, all, some way or other connected with the project, have suffered badly. Worst sufferers are those who refused compensation However, now based on the judgment pronounced by Supreme Court all land losers would get back their land and ‘unwilling farmers’ would get compensation too for their suffering for a decade. Happily, the present govt has promised to return the acquired land to the farmers in cultivable state.However,Tatas and those invested in ancillary industries at the project site have a remote chance to get back their money.
In fact, riding on the wave of Singur movement Trinomool Supremo Mamata Banerjee came to power. In her election manifesto she gave top most priority to return of the acquired land to the farmers of Singur after assuming power.True to her words she took initiative on this count immediately after she assumed her office as Chief minister.But to start with she suffered legal setback in the court of law but continued her efforts with all sincerity and determination. After legal battle for a decade came the landmark judgment of the apex Court in favour of her govt nullifying acquisition of the land at Singur .It’s a political as well as moral victory of Trinomool supremo and of farmers of Singur who lost their land
However, this historic verdict of SC might open pandora’s box.It's very likely the demand for return of land allegedly forcibly acquired by the administrations in other states also would follow soon..In our state shifting of Misti hub from the selected location at Bardhaman in the face of the agitation of the land owners claiming their land was acquired without their consent is a case in point. Regrettably, new site allocated for the hub is no single stretch of land. Hub would come up reportedly on two sites situated 1Km apart. It might hamper the business of the hub.If such things happen, developmental work and industrialization as well may suffer. So new land acquisition bill 1915 that has been passed in the Lok sabha and is waiting for approval of Rajya Sabha needs to be reviewed to ward off any legal hurdle in future
In short, Singur is a tale of both jubilation and frustration, victory and defeat as well.
Land Acquisition Act did not differentiate between 'willing' or 'unwilling'. So far as my knowledge goes, all procedures as specified in the Act were followed. Compensations awarded to the landowners were much more as provided in the Act and Rules framed thereunder. The Act passed by the Trinamool govt to return the land to the willing land owners was upheld as constitutional by a single judge of Calcutta High Court which was quashed by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High. Govt went to Supreme Court challenging the verdict of Division Bench. Supreme Court bundled together all the cases relating to Singur and heard the cases together. But barring the case declared null and void by Division Bench &few others, Division Bench of Supreme Court declared the procedure erroneous and ordered the lands to be returned to the owners, irrespective of 'willing and 'unwilling' in a cultivable condition, 3-crop, 2-crop condition. Perhaps Govt will be able to do it within the stipulated period. The lands in question was acquired by the Govt and handed over to the Govt owned WBIDC, which in turn assigned the Tata Motors to set a car factory along with ancillary units, having huge real prospect of direct and indirect employment and the bright scenario of industrialization. The factory was in fact about 90% complete with the few car went to painting shops. But the violent movement ended the dream of industrialised Bengal witnessing the absence of any new big industry venturing to open shop in this state. Tata Motors had to terminate the project and leave. That event cast a very negative impression in the world and abroad. Now the CM has gone to Germany to woo BMW to open shop here. Hope this will bring the industrial wave like the 'tsunami' and our state will be the most sought-after destination for the industry.
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