Finding fault with the land acquisition process, SC said that the acquired land must be returned to the cultivators within 12 weeks from Wednesday. It also said that land acquisition collector had not properly conducted the inquiry into the complaints of cultivators with regard to the acquisition of plots.

Stating the acquisition of land by the state for a company does not fall under the purview of public purpose, the court ordered that the land owners/cultivators who got compensation from the government will not return it as they did not use it for 10 years.

The 1000 acre land was acquired by the CPI(M) government in 2006 to facilitate the Tatas to set up its Nano car manufacturing plant. But soon after the allotment, Trinamool Congress (TMC) raised protests against it. In 2011, when TMC came into power, it passed a law to take over the land. The project was finally moved out of Bengal and taken to Gujarat’s Sanad district, reports Economic Times.

Tata Motors then took the case to the Calcutta High Court challenging the law. The acquisition of the land was upheld by a trial court and the law passed by the Trinamool Congress-led state government was declared unconstitutional. The dispute was then taken to the Supreme Court, reports Business Standard.  

(Feature image source: PTI)

(With inputs from PTI)