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The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday wondered why the West Bengal Government took possession of the Singur land “within hours” of notification of the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act 2011.
Justice Mr I.P. Mukerji took a cue from the Tata Motors counsel, Mr Samaraditya Pal's argument. Mr Pal argued that while on June 21 evening (at around 6.30 p.m.), Mr Partha Chatterjee announced that the Act had been notified; records by the district authorities show that possession of land was taken before 8:30 p.m.
Mr Mukerji observed that provisions of the Act state that Tata Motors and all vendors shall “forthwith” restore possession of the land to the State Government. “Does forthwith mean a couple of hours? This is what calls for an explanation,” he observed.
The State Advocate-General, Mr M. Anindya Mitra, pointed out that provisions of the Act did not require that the State government should serve a notice to Tata Motors for restoration of possession of land in favour of the District Magistrate of Hooghly.
Contradictory
During the day, the auto major's counsel argued that the affidavit filed by the Joint Secretary of the Land and Land Reforms Department and orders issued on behalf of the District Magistrate of Hooghly were contradictory to each other.
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