The West Bengal government today decided not to oppose the amendment application filed by Tata Motors to incorporate the late night events on June 21, the day the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act of 2011 came into being, and the following day when reports of pilferage started pouring in.
The state government’s decision not to challenge the amendment came after it filed seven affidavits opposing it. Hearing on the amendment application was supposed to start today. Tata Motors had filed its amendment application on July 4.
In the high drama that followed in court, with counsels on either side almost losing their cool, it appeared that the state was in a tearing hurry to have the matter disposed of, while Tata Motors was in a relatively comfortable position.
Tata Motors’ relief stemmed from the interim relief granted by the Supreme Court on June 29, staying the return of land to the unwilling farmers at Singur, the erstwhile site for the Nano project. The order had come in the nick of time, as the state government was in the process of handing over the land to some farmers, making them restive.
Advocate General Anindya Mitra today pointed out that the Supreme Court had said that the main petition should be disposed of within one month. Tata Motors’ counsel, Samaraditya Pal, pointed out that the Supreme Court had said that it should be heard “as soon as possible, preferably” within one month.
The state government’s lawyer, Kalyan Banerjee, who is also a member of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress, claimed that Tata Motors wanted to delay the hearing process. To this, the Tata Motors counsel said the state government could have communicated earlier that it was not going to oppose the amendment as the company had to respond to the affidavits in opposition within two days.
Pal narrated several instances between June 22, when Tata Motors moved court and till Supreme Court granted an interim stay on June 29, to establish that the state was earlier in no hurry to hear the matter as no interim order had been passed by the Calcutta High Court.
Justice Saumitra Pal ultimately said that the hearing would resume tomorrow and the amended petition should be served by Saturday.
On June 23, Tata Motors wanted to submit a supplementary affidavit with certain facts between June 21 night and June 22, but it was vehemently opposed. It filed a second writ petition on June 27, on the notification, which laid down the procedure for returning land and a prayer for an interim stay was moved. The matter went up to the division bench of the Calcutta High Court which did not entertain an oral submission and finally moved to the Supreme Court.
