Gujarat HC rejects farmers' petitions on Tata Nano land

The Gujarat High Court has dismissed two separate petitions of farmers demanding compensation for the land transferred by the Gujarat government to Tata Motors Ltd for the Nano car project.

A Bench of Chief Justice KS Radhakrishnan and Akil Kureshi dismissed the petitions from farmers of Bol and Khoda villages in Sanand Taluka of Ahmedabad district, terming these “frivolous, speculative and vexatious”. It called the petitions “an abuse of the judicial process” and ordered a Rs 10,000 fine on each petitioner.

The farmers of Bol and Khoda villages had filed separate petitions seeking compensation for 810 acres and 865 acres land, respectively, where the Nano unit is coming up.

The state government had taken over 2,200 acres of land from Anand Agricultural University, of which it transferred 1,100 acres of the Northcote Cattle Breeding Farm at Sanand Taluka to relocate Tata’s ambitious Nano project from Singur in West Bengal to Gujarat.

The farmers contended the land was leased to the cattle breeding farm by their ancestors during the drought in 1900. They had claimed in the petition that the land was taken on lease by the government for protection of cows of the “Kankreji” breed.

They’d also challenged the state government’s claim that the land was formally acquired and adequate compensation was given to the original owners.