Kolkata:- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today described as “landmark victory” the Supreme Court judgement on Singur land acquisition by the erstwhile Left Front government for the Nano car plant even as Tata Motors said it would study the judgement before commenting on it.
An elated Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat that the “The Supreme Court judgement on Singur is a landmark victory. We have waited 10 years for this judgement. I can die peacefully, I am so happy (with the verdict.)”
Banerjee, who steered political opposition against the land acquisition process forcing the Tatas to abandon the project in 2008, said her government would shortly work out on a mechanism to return land to the farmers as directed by the court.
“We will hold strategy meeting tomorrow as to how to implement SC verdict”, she said.
The division bench of justices Arun Mishra and V Gopala Gowda of the apex court ruled that the land acquisition process in Singur was faulty and not for public purpose.
It directed that land be returned to the farmers within 12 weeks.
Banerjee said, “From the beginning, we had been telling that the method of the acquisition was unethical and land was taken away forcibly from the farmers.”
She said she had staged a hunger strike in the city which lasted for 26 days to protest against the acquisition process.
She said that the genesis of her party Trinamool Congress’ slogan ‘Maa-Maati-Manush’ (mother-land-people) was from the Singur movement, she said adding that “It was not only a blunder but historical suicide by the LF government”.
Tata Motors said it would study the Supreme Court judgement on Singur in detail before commenting on it.
“This case in which the judgement was delivered today related to the acquisition of land by the state government (read West Bengal government) before it was leased to Tata Motors,” the company said in a statement.
It further said “Our case relating to the Singur Act of 2011 is yet to be heard by Supreme Court. We will study today’s judgement in detail before commenting further on the same.
PTI
