Kolkata, June 30 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court Thursday ordered Tata Motors Ltd. and the West Bengal government to submit their affidavits in the Singur land case for an expeditious hearing, a lawyer said.
The Supreme Court had Wednesday stayed the return of land acquired from farmers in Singur for the Tata Motors Nano project till the final order on the issue by the Calcutta High Court.
‘The (High) Court has directed today (Thursday) that according to SC order, the main application be heard. Till now, we were arguing for interim relief but since the SC has desired that the writ petition be heard out, accordingly the parties have agreed and the court has passed an order directing the state government to file affidavit by July 8 and TML (Tata) to give their reply on July 12.
‘The writ petition will be taken up July 14 for hearing,’ said Tata Motors counsel Siddharth Mitra.
The apex court also said it will not interfere in the decision, and directed the high court to rule within a month due to the urgency of the matter.
The Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act was passed in the assembly June 14, scrapping the land lease given to the Tatas by the previous Left Front government for the Nano plant.
The act came into force June 21 and the very next day, Tata Motors moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the legislation. But the high court refused the company’s plea to restrain the state government from re-distributing the land.
The automaker Tuesday approached the Supreme Court against the ‘undue haste’ being shown by the government in returning the land after it was denied interim relief by the Calcutta High Court.
The court will take up the matter for final hearing July 14.
