WB govt mulls legal recourse after arbitration tribunal orders it to pay Tata Motors Rs 765.78 crore for Singur losses

The state government is waiting for a copy of the verdict following which, it is likely to take legal recourse. The chief secretary has already started seeking opinion of the legal experts. On Monday, the arbitration tribunal had ordered the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 765.78 crore to Tata Motors Ltd.

Kolkata: After the Arbitral Tribunal ordered the West Bengal government to pay Rs 765.78 crore as compensation to the Tata Motors Ltd, the state is contemplating to take a legal recourse.

Along with the compensation, the state government has been asked to pay 11 percent interest since September 1, 2016 as compensation to the company for closure of its Nano car project in Singur. Another Rs one crore has to be paid by the government towards the cost of the case to Tata Motors Ltd. Overall, around Rs 2,000 crore has to be paid by the state government. Thus, all eyes were on West Bengal government's response to the verdict, which is considered to be a major setback ahead of the Bengal Global Business Summit.

Sources said the state government can appeal before either the high court or Supreme Court and thus a long legal battle awaits in the Singur case. State chief secretary HK Dwivedi has already started discussing the issue with the legal experts and it has been learnt that the state would challenge the verdict.

The state government has objected to the compensation amount ordered by the tribunal. A process has been initiated to get a copy of the judgment. After which, the legal recourse would be initiated, sources said.

State finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said that the state government must take legal action. In the first cabinet meeting after coming to power in 2011, the Mamata Banerjee-led government decided to promulgate a new law for return of Singur land to all the land-owners. The Supreme Court had declared Singur's land acquisition illegal and contrary to the Land Act.

"It was found that land was forcibly acquired from the farmers and handed over to the Tata Motors. The WBIDC had entered into a silent agreement with the Tata Group and it was a design orchestrated by the then CPI-M led government. Our government must appeal against the tribunal's order," Bhattacharya added.