By IANS,
Kolkata: West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress and the Congress Wednesday welcomed the Calcutta High Court order on the Singur land row, while the opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), choose to tread a middle path by saying that the verdict is not “final”.
The high court Wednesday ruled the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act passed by the government was valid and constitutional, thus paving the way for land acquired from farmers for Tata Motors’ Nano project by the previous Left Front government to be returned to them.
“The verdict has been given by the honourable court but the Tatas still have an opportunity to go to revision bench and Supreme Court. So how can I say this is final? We have to wait and watch,” CPI-M state secretariat member Rabin Deb said.
However, Left allies such as Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) welcomed the verdict.
“The court has given the verdict after hearing both the parties. I have full faith in Indian judiciary,” CPI state secretary Manju Majumdar told IANS.
“The court has given its verdict, it’s good. It has uphold the appeal of the state after listening to both the parties and arguments,” RSP state secretary Kshiti Goswami said.
Left ally Forward Bloc refrained from commenting on the verdict but felt the farmers should get back their lands.
“I don’t want to comment on the verdict but I want that farmers should get back their lands,” Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas said.
The Trinamool Congress and Congress, however, hailed the verdict as “historic”.
“This is victory of the policies of (Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee,” Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Shekhar Ray said.
“I welcome the verdict and I like the spirit of the act,” state Congress president Pradip Bhattacharjee said.
Tata Motors had shifted the Nano plant to Sanand in Gujarat from Singur in October 2008, succumbing to protests by farmers led by Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress that sought the return of 400 acres taken from farmers reportedly unwilling to part with their land.
Within a month of forming the government, Banerjee enacted the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, which was passed by the state assembly June 14.
This scrapped the land lease given to Tata Motors by the Left Front regime for the small car plant.