Won?t be hard to return Singur land: Partha Chatterjee

West Bengal Commerce and Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee on Tuesday said there won?t be many legal hassles in returning 400 acres of land of Singur farmers seized by the previous government for the Tata Motors car project.

Chatterjee on Tuesday visited the abandoned Nano site in Singur and held a meeting with West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (WBIDC) managing director Subrata Gupta, local Trinamool Congress MLA and school education minister Rabindranath Bhattacharjee at the premises.

“It won?t be difficult to return 400 acres to the unwilling farmers, provided ‘all sides agree. We will make sure farmers don?t land up in legal tangles,? Chatterjee told reporters after the meeting.

Earlier, Chatterjee said the Singur agreement between the Tata Motors and the previous Left Front government would not be made public immediately owing to legal hurdles.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the first day of her tenure (May 20) said she would return the 400 acres of land of Singur’s unwilling farmers seized by the previous government for the Tata Motors car project and later said she would make public the agreement which was kept a hush hush affair by the Left Front regime.

On May 26, Chattopadhayay said he has studied the agreement but there are legal hurdles in its publication now and it can amount to contempt of court.

“But we will remove the legal hurdles and make it public in keeping with our commitment,” he told reporters.

He said he would discuss the matter with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and inform the media.

Mamata Banerjee after assumption of office said: “Tata can come and set up factory on 600 acres. We will return the 400 acres of land of the unwilling farmers.”