Tata Motors alleged on Friday that the West Bengal government was trespassing on the land of the now-relocated Tata Nano small car factory at Singur. It also told the Calcutta High Court that it had not “voluntarily relinquished [the] right of property” at Singur.
Abandonment means voluntary relinquishing of right to property without any element of coercion. This was not the case in Singur, counsel for Tata Motors Samaraditya Pal told the court during the hearing of a petition filed by the company, challenging the constitutional validity of the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011.
Mr. Pal said the acts of the State government – re-possessing the land at Singur - tantamount to “gross acts of trespass.”
Countering the claims of the State government of “non utilisation” of land at Singur, he said that while the small car project may have failed to take off from the place, it did not mean non-utilisation of land.
“Utilisation does not necessarily mean completion of project,” he said.
The company's decision to relocate to Gujarat was not taken at its volition, and Tata Motors “succumbed to force” during the agitation, he said adding that repeated blockades since 2006 forced the company to relocate.
