Tata Motors amends plea over Singur land redistribution

Tata Motors on Monday filed an amendment to its original petition in the Calcutta high court challenging the validity of the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011.

The auto major had filed its original petition was moved on 22 June challenging the Singur Act passed by the West Bengal government, which seeks to return Tata land at Singur to farmers who had been unwilling to part with it in the first place (See: Tatas move HC over Bengal's Singur land repossession act).

"We have filed an amendment today to amend our earlier petition, which was filed in a great hurry as we were dispossessed on the night of 21 June. The amendment places on record facts and developments which could not be incorporated in the earlier petition," a statement issued by Tata Motors said.

"The amendment has been filed in time so that the state can reply by 7 July, which is the time given to it by the Calcutta high court … certain technical objections have now been taken care of,'' it added.

The state government panel of lawyers led by advocate general Anindya Mitra, while arguing against the petition, had claimed that it was ''misleading and suppressed material facts''.

The Singur Act was passed in the state assembly last month in one of the first moves of the new Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee. The government issued a notification on 21 June to reclaim 997.11 acres of land in Singur which was acquired by the previous Left Front government for Tata Motors' Nano small-car project (See: Bengal passes bill to help return Tatas' Singur land).

After the Tata petition, the Supreme Court on 29 June had directed the state not to go ahead with redistribution of Singur land to farmers (See: SC stays return of Tatas' Singur land to farmers).