The West Bengal Government has moved the Supreme Court in appeal against a Calcutta High Court order in the Singur land case.
The division bench of the High Court had ruled that the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011 was constitutionally invalid and void. The Act had empowered the West Bengal Government to reclaim 400 acres of the 997 acres given to Tata Motors by the earlier Left Front Government in 2007 for setting up a factory to produce the small car ‘Nano’.
The State Government, in its appeal, said the High Court order erred in quashing the Act. Claiming that the Act does not involve any land acquisition, it said the objective of the legislation was to return the land to farmers unwilling to part with it as well as to generate employment.
The High Court order had noted that the President’s assent was not taken for the Act. The High Court had suspended the implementation of its order for two months, thereby allowing the Government to move the Supreme Court.