West Bengal to decide action after getting copy of High Court verdict

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government, which received a setback with Calcutta High Court holding Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act as unconstitutional, today said it would decide its next course of action only after getting a copy of the verdict.

"We have not received the copy of the court verdict. The state government will take action only after getting it," Commerce and Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters here.

The High Court has held as unconstitutional and void the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, under which the state had vested land leased to Tata Motors.

Chatterjee also assured the people, farmers and land labourers in Singur that they were with them and would continue to stand beside them.

"We were with them, we are with them and we will be with them. We are committed to protect their interest," he said, recalling that Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had observed a 26-day fast in Singur to protect the interests of farmers.

He said the state government was committed to return the land of unwilling farmers and protect interests of land labourers.