n a relief to the West Bengal Government, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that land acquired for Tata Motors’ ‘Nano’ car project in Singur will not be restored to the industrial entities which were operating there prior to the acquisition. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi interpreted the apex court’s 2016 verdict in Kedar Nath Yadav’s case that quashed the land acquisition proceedings for establishing the manufacturing plant of Tata Motors.
The bench said the 2016 judgement was anchored on the premise that the acquisition disproportionately affected vulnerable communities lacking financial resources and institutional access to challenge governmental action. The bench noted that this court had directed restoration of land to the original landowners/cultivators by the state within a period of 12 weeks.
“Extraordinary judicial intervention is warranted when systemic barriers prevent certain classes from accessing ordinary remedies, not when parties possess adequate means to vindicate their rights. Relief conceived to prevent impoverishment among the disadvantaged cannot extend to commercial enterprises with financial capacity and institutional sophistication,” the bench said, while interpreting the 2016 verdict.