West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said it was a 'moral victory' after the Supreme Court asked Tata Motors to make its stand clear on its leasehold rights on the land at Singur as it had moved its car plant out of the state.
"I am very happy. It is an important observation. We wanted this," Banerjee told reporters here.
Stating that land acquisition from farmers at Singur (for the Tata Motors Nano car plant) began from 2006, Banerjee said, "I went on a 26-day hunger-strike."
"We love both agriculture and industry. The movement of agriculturists the world over will be encouraged by this. It is a moral victory of the prolonged movement," the Chief Minister said.
The apex court also said "the land should move back to the agriculturists and we may ask the West Bengal government to file an affidavit on the issue of giving the money back to you which you had paid at the time of land acquisition. In the interests of justice, we think it will serve the purpose."
The state government had moved the Supreme Court against a Calcutta high court order which had struck down the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act 2011 that allowed it to reclaim the 400 acres of land given to Tata Motors.
