West Bengal Left Front handing over 1,000 acres land in 2006 to Tata Nano "illegal", return it to farmers: SC

By A Representative
In a crucial judgment, the Supreme Court has quashed the acquisition of 1,000 acres of land in Singur by West Bengal’s Left Front government in 2006 for Tata’s Nano project, saying it was “illegal” and “violation of law”. Civil rights organizations, backed by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, had moved the apex court challenging the acquisition.
The Nano small car plant was shifted to Gujarat's Sanand district after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then state chief minister, offered huge concessions, said to be to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore. While the acquisition was carried out by the Left government in West Bengal, after she came to power, Banerjee came up with the Singur Land Acquisition Act to return the land back to the farmers.
Called Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, it allowed the Banerjee government to reclaim the 1,000 acres of land given to Tata Motors in 2006. The West Bengal High Court, hearing a petition, struck down the Act. However, civil rights organizations backing farmers and and Banerjee challenged the High Court order in the apex court.
Pronouncing the judgment, the bench, consisting of Justices V Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra, directed the Banerjee government to hand over the land acquired from the farmers within 12 weeks. The bench ruled that the farmers, who got compensation from the state government need not return it because “they were deprived of their livelihood for the last 10 years”.
On May 5, even as reserving the judgment, the apex court had questioned the manner in which the land was allotted to Tata Motors “without adhering to the section 4 and 5 of the Land Acquisition Act which mandate public notice for receiving objections.”
The bench noted that the entire exercise was done by “bulldozing the law”, as the then West Bengal Cabinet, under the CPI-M-led Left government, suo motu cleared the allocation of the land identified by the automobile major without any notice to the people and hearing objections.
The apex court told senior lawyers, who appeared for Tata Nano, which was the main beneficiary of the 1,000 acres, that they could not argue that the farmers had “accepted the award so they cannot challenge the acquisition.”
Meanwhile, the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), the top apex body of tens of people's organizations, has called the the Supreme Court order “a land mark decision”, insisting, this “marks another chapter in the long history of resistances by the people’s movements against forcible land acquisition in name of public purpose for private corporations.”
“Singur marked a turning point in 2006 when the resistance against the special economic zones were just gathering steam and it emboldened our collective struggles all around”, NAPM, which supported the Singur farmers' struggle, said.
NAPM added, it fully agreed with Justice Gowda’s observation that the land acquisition for a private company to build a car plant doesn’t constitute “public purpose”, as it is “in line with what we have been saying for long and only vindicates our position”.
Pointing out that the judgment was also a setback to the Modi government, which wished to amend the land law of 2013 by doing away with social impact assessment and consent clauses, NAPM said, “The NDA government thrice brought Ordinances to amend the law to facilitate easy acquisition of the land for private corporations and for profiteering in the name of the public purpose.”

Comments

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Civil society flags widespread violations of land acquisition Act before Parliamentary panel

By Jag Jivan Civil society organisations and stakeholders from across India have presented stark evidence before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj , alleging systemic violations of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 , particularly in Scheduled Areas and tribal regions.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Beneath the stone: Revisiting the New Jersey mandir controversy

By Rajiv Shah A recent report published in the British media outlet The Guardian , titled “Workers carved the largest modern Hindu temple in the west. Now, some have incurable lung disease,” took me back to my visits to the New Jersey mandir —first in 2022, when it was still under construction, though parts of it were open to visitors, and again in 2024, after its completion.

Protesters in UK cities voice concerns over alleged developments in Bastar region

By A Representative Demonstrations were held across several cities in the United Kingdom on March 28, as groups and activists gathered to protest what they described as state actions in India under the reported “Operation Kagar.”

Search This Blog