Encroachment charges baseless: Siganporia

In its first-ever official reaction after the Munnar episode, Tata Tea's top bosses today clarified that the company had not encroached upon any land in Munnar, as has been made out by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.

Addressing media persons here, Tata Tea managing director Percy Siganporia said the government survey completed in 2001 and the admissions before the Lok Ayukta had revealed that encroachment allegations against Tata Tea were baseless.

In fact, a shortage of 278 hectares in its holding was brought to light, he added. Though the survey report was not published, the government had, in a statement filed before the Lok Ayukta, admitted that allegations that the company had encroached on to 50,000 acres of government land were untrue, and there is, in actuality, a shortage of 278.23 hectares in the company's total holding, he pointed out.

Alleging that a fresh survey has been ordered, using satellite mapping by misquoting a high court judgment, with malafide intentions, Siganporia said that this has been done by the government with an aim to arrive at conclusions different from those arrived through the statutory surveys.

"There existed an agreement with the government that these areas are given to us under lease, with a condition to take back these areas after providing three months' notice. The government has flouted this agreement and uprooted tea bushes alleging that they have been planted on encroached land," Siganporia added.

Siganporia reiterated that the land said to have been reclaimed, as part of the July 3 eviction drive, belonged to the Department of Forests and not Tata Tea or Kanan Devan Hill Plantations (KDHP) as claimed by the chief minister.

Tata Tea had exited the plantations by divesting management control of 17 tea estates in Munnar, in 2005. The company had then opted for a business model which made employees majority owners of the new business enterprise, KDHP. As many as thirteen thousand employees are shareholders in KDHP with 69% stake, while Tata Tea holds 18%.
While a trust holds 7%, the remaining stake is held by others.