-The Telegraph
The original petition of the Tatas had challenged the constitutional validity of the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, through which the government has taken back the land acquired for the Nano project in Singur.
A Tata Motors spokesperson said in a statement this evening: “We have filed an amendment today to amend our petition, filed on June 22, which was done in great hurry as we were dispossessed on the night of June 21.
“The amendment places on record facts and developments which could not be incorporated in the petition that night. This had led to technical objections, which have now been taken care of. The amendment has been filed in time such that the state can reply to it by July 7, which is the time given to the state by Calcutta High Court.”
Advocate Samaraditya Pal, the Tata Motors counsel, told Justice Saumitra Pal that he wanted to make rectifications in the original petition. The judge then called the state government pleader, Ashok Kumar Banerjee, into the courtroom.
Banerjee objected to the company’s plea, saying: “The court should hear the government counsel’s view before accepting the Tata Motors plea.”
Justice Pal said he would hear both parties at 2pm on June 8 before deciding whether to accept the Tatas’ amendment petition.
Singur survey delay
The land survey in Singur could not be completed today, the last day of the unofficial deadline set by industries minister Partha Chatterjee.
“We could not complete the survey work because of frequent rain. The rain has made the soil muddy, slowing us down. We expect the survey to be completed by Wednesday if the weather is favourable,” said an officer of the block land and land reforms department.
Of the five Singur mouzas, work has been completed in two. Survey is now on in Bajemelia.
Today, 125 land-return applications were submitted to the block development officer’s office till 5.30pm.