Even after the Tata Motors decided to pull out its Nano plant from Singur, the land in question not only faces an uncertain future, but there is also little possibility of it being returned to the farmers.

The state government has already announced that though the Tatas have decided to quit, the government will not abandon its plan of utilising the land for “some other industrial projects”. In the government’s scheme of things, returning the land to the farmers does not seem to be a priority, said a senior official of the Commerce and Industries department.

The status of the land, meanwhile, remains legally encumbered. Between September and December 2006, as many as 11 public interest litigations (PIL) have been filed in the Calcutta High Court, challenging the land acquisition process at Singur. After a series of hearing, the High Court had observed on January 18 that the land acquisition process for setting up the small car project by the Tata Motors was “legally valid”.

Following this, seven petitioners had filed special leave petitions (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging the verdict passed by the Calcutta High Court. Now, the case is pending before a bench of the Supreme Court. Tata Motors had also filed an application for participating in the legal battle in the Supreme Court. The case is likely to come up for hearing in October-November.

On July 21, 2006, the district magistrate had issued a notification for acquiring 997.11 acres at Singur. Finally, land was acquired by the state government on October 4, 2006. The district magistrate had taken possession of the said land, which stood vested under the Land Acquisition Act with the state government.

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