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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Singur Ordinance falls through on Mamata faux pas by Sutanuka Ghosal

Singur Ordinance falls through on Mamata faux pas by Sutanuka Ghosal

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published Published on Jun 11, 2011   modified Modified on Jun 11, 2011
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee faced a major embarrassment on Friday as she was forced to put on hold an ordinance restoring land in Singur to farmers. The state government on Friday instead proposed to table a Bill in the legislative assembly on Tuesday so that the land in Singur-currently the site of an abandoned Tata Motors factory-can eventually be given back to farmers.

"The ordinance that was promulgated on Thursday will not be implemented," Banerjee said on Friday. "Instead, we will bring a Bill in the state assembly on Singur. My intention was very clear. We had promised to return 400 acres to unwilling Singur farmers and we will have to do it."

For the 21-day-old government, the episode is a major embarrassment. But for the battered CPM, it came as a badly-needed boost, since it was the Left delegation to Governor MK Narayanan that caused this reversal. The delegation, according to people familiar with the matter, pointed out that the ordinance was unconstitutional since it violated Article 213, which talks about the powers of a governor to promulgate ordinances during "recess of legislature".

The governor summoned state chief secretary Samar Ghosh after the meeting with the Left delegation. He was far from happy with the way things had gone since Thursday's announcement of an ordinance, people familiar with the matter said.

Combination of Factors Led to Unprecedented Faux Pas

The chief minister's announcement jettisoning the ordinance came after this meeting. A combination of factors contributed to this unprecedented faux pas: Banerjee's haste in claiming credit for just about everything and the awe in which she is held by almost everybody in her party.

The incident of the 'withdrawn' ordinance comes even as the Tatas indicated for the first time what could be the "compensation" they were hoping to get out of Singur. In a recent letter to the state government , Tata Motors managing director PM Telang said the Tatas had spent Rs 440 crore on development of the Singur area while vendors had spent Rs 170 crore for setting up their units.

The letter does not say the government must pay this much, but it describes the amount as cost incurred and asks the government to compensate. State government officials feel this may be what the Tatas expect to get by way of compensation.

The officials felt the letter also indicates the Tatas are not averse to parting with the land at Singur. Subrata Gupta, MD of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation confirmed that the government had received such a communication.

"Tata Motors has written to us that the company has incurred a cost of . 440 crore for development of Singur . The vendors have incurred an expenditure of . 170 crore, the letter says. The letter also mentions that Tatas need to be compensated but they do not spell out whether this . 610 crore is the exact amount of compensation ." He said Tata Motors has taken most other plant items, including machinery, from Singur. Talking about the likely way forward after Banerjee's announcement on Friday, legal luminaries said the state can now amend Section 48 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as was done in Tamil Nadu in 1997.

"It will virtually have to be the same model used by Tamil Nadu in 1997 when it returned land to farmers in somewhat similar circumstances ," a land lawyer said. ET had reported on May 25 that the West Bengal government was most likely to follow the TN model to give land back to Singur farmers, after talking to industry secretary Dipankar Mukherjee. In TN also, Section 48 of the central act had been amended to say: "Where the government is satisfied that the land, vested in the government under this act, is not required for the purpose for which it was acquired , or for any other public purpose, the government may transfer such land to the original owner, who is willing to repay the amount."

State government sources had then said a similar amendment may be carried out in West Bengal too, after obtaining the president's consent, which is mandatory. Speaking to ET, Somnath Chatterjee, ex-speaker of Lok Sabha, said, "I have not seen the ordinance. Neither have I any knowledge about the contents . Therefore, I cannot say whether it is bad or good. But the parliamentary practice suggests that no ordinance can be promulgated when the assembly is in session. Therefore , it is unconstitutional" .

The Economic Times, 11 June, 2011, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/singur-ordinance-falls-through-on-mamata-faux-pas/articleshow/8809545.cms


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