SC to hear Singur land matter Tuesday

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear a petition challenging the Calcutta High Court's decision that held as legal, the acquisition of land by West Bengal government for Tata Motors' small-car project at Singur.

The petition is likely to come up before a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan.

The petition filed by Kedar Nath Yadav, a practising lawyer, has sought immediate halt of the project that will produce the world's cheapest car Nano.

The acquisition of fertile multi-crop agricultural land by the government in various parts of the state for Tata Motors' upcoming project, for Indonesia's Salim Group in Haldia and the Reliance group, was violative of farmers' rights guaranteed by the Constitution, the petition filed through Sarla Chandra stated.

It also goes against the provisions of Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the petition said.

Such action on the part of the state government to acquire 997.11 acres of land at Singur in the name of public purpose without any specific master plan and depriving farmers of their livelihood without giving proper compensation was malafide, arbitrary and illegal, it said.

While seeking a direction to the government against evicting or dispossessing farmers from their lands, it alleged that the government was torturing these farmers by deploying 26,000 police force to demolish their houses and occupy land which was the source of livelihood to thousands of people.

Yadav further alleged that the state government had invested large amounts of public funds in favour of one private company. The High Court, on January 18, held as legal the acquisition of land for the Tata Motors' unit.