Calcutta, June 14: The Centre has threatened to invoke for the first time a 54-year-old law to take over three closed tea gardens in the Dooars.

The law — Section 16 (D) of the Tea Act of 1953 — will empower the Tea Board of India to take over gardens and hand them to a new management or act as it wants.

The act, though promulgated in 1953, has never been invoked and the Tea Board will consult lawyers before pulling the trigger.

“We have decided that out of the 14 closed gardens in Bengal, for three, Raipur, Bandarpur and Sikarpur, reopening will not be possible. I have, therefore, urged the chairman, Tea Board, for the first time to initiate 16 (D) in these gardens. There are about 2,105 workers in the three gardens,” the minister of state for commerce and industry, Jairam Ramesh, said.

The minister added that the response to the proposal to open closed gardens in Bengal has been disappointing.

“The Kerala garden owners are much more serious than their Bengal counterparts. In Kerala, five gardens have reopened and are functioning normally. Another eight are set to open by July 15, out of the 17 closed gardens.

“In Bengal, only one, the Surendranagar tea estate, has opened out of the 14 closed gardens,” Ramesh said.

According to the act, Section 16 (D) “provides for powers to the central government to authorise any person or body of persons to take over the management of the whole or any part of the tea undertaking or tea unit”.

The initial order could be for a maximum period of five years, which could be extended by one year at a time for a maximum of another six years.