On Monday, an arbitration panel ordered the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) to compensate Tata Motors for the loss of capital investment due to the suspension of the Nano manufacturing facility at Singur. Tata Motors, a car manufacturing company, was forced to leave the city in south Bengal following protests by Mamta Banerjee over alleged forced displacement.
Tata Motors expressed through the exchange of submissions on Monday that the conclusion of the arbitration panel proceedings is in its favor. The carmaker was deemed eligible to recover an amount of Rs 765.78 crore with 11 per cent annual interest from WBIDC till the time of actual recovery, and it was decided unanimously.
That would actually be the time frame starting from September 1, 2016, when the country’s supreme court called the land acquisition in Bengal simply null and unconstitutional. The Supreme Court also ordered WBIDC to pay an amount of Rs 1 crore to Tata Motors as legal costs (also known as costs of proceedings).
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Legal dispute
It was in 2006 that the leftist government of West Bengal allotted 1,000 acres of land to a car manufacturing company, Tata Motors, for the purpose of manufacturing the hatchback Nano in Singur. The land was leased for 99 years. However, it was Mamata Banerjee who launched Singur’s land movement citing forcible land acquisition and concerns over displacement of people.
In 2011, the Trinamool Congress government brought the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011 which was passed by the Legislative Assembly. A legal battle then began as the Act related to taking possession of land leased to a car manufacturing company. The law also called for the return of land to owners who had earlier refused compensation given to them by the Left Front Government. The law further states that the remaining part is used for the purpose of public interest and welfare of the state.
When land disturbances started, Tata Motors started thinking about shifting to another location in 2008. This relocation was completed in October 2008.
The reaction of Tata Motors
Singur’s law was challenged by Tata Motors in June 2011 in the Calcutta High Court. Since then, Tata Motors has claimed that it did not receive “reasonable compensation” as the Act took over their rights to the land as well.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn