Singur land acquisition is legal says Calcutta High Court

Kolkata, Jan 18 : The Calcutta High Court today held that acquisition of land at Singur for the Tata Motors car project was legal.

A division Bench comprising Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice P C Ghosh pronounced the verdict.

In February 2007, Joydeep Mukherjee had moved a writ petition challenging the acquisition of about 1000 acres of land.

Mukherjee and 10 other individuals and associations, who joined the case as added petitioners, claimed that the land had been acquired without following the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules, 1963.

Tata Motors started to build its factory in Singur in January 2007 to make the world's cheapest car. Last week, the much awaited one-lakh rupees car, Nano, was unveiled by Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata in New Delhi, which is likely to hit roads by October. But the project has been mired in controversy with some farmers declaring that the government took their land against their will.

ANI