The Supreme Court’s verdict on many issues-it seems to be proactive in coming out with search verdicts-may cause criticism, at least raise reservations. The Shingur verdict is one of them. It is generally admitted that West Bengal needed an industrial revolution and so the then Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee got Tata Motors to start the Nano facility on about 900 acres of land at Shingur. As the Land Acquisition Law of 1894 laid down that land belonged to the state, there was no legal impediment to it . The government also decided on a compensation package to be paid to land owners for rehabilitation. Landless labourers were promised employment in the ancillary industries to be set up by the Nano factory. There was however relentless opposition to the Left Front government’s industrialisation drive spearheaded by Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamul followers. The political outcome proved disastrous for the Left which has been virtually wiped out in two successive assembly elections.
However, the apex court has to judge legality and not public opinion. The UPA government sought to replace the 1894 Act with the Right to Fair Compensation and transparency in Land Acquisition Resettlement Legislation in 2013. But under the Modi government the new land acquisition bill still hangs fire because of amendments asked for. The bill has not been passed yet and Mamata Banerjee herself voiced disagreement with the central proposal. Now the Supreme Court has said that the Left Front had not followed 1894 procedures. The legal cavil at forceful acquisition of land seems inconsistent with the implications of the 1894 law which provides that land belongs to the State. In such circumstances, until Parliament passes the bill one may wonder if the Supreme Court can invalidate the Left Front’s action. Besides, returning the land to owners who had accepted compensation for the land they had parted with over about 400 acres may not be justified. That will be doubling the generosity of the Mamata Banerjee government.