The Supreme Court has dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Bengal government in a case involving its dispute with Tata Motors over the ill-fated small car project at Singur, which changed the industrial and political landscape of the state.
The state is in the process of challenging an arbitral award in favour of the automaker before the Calcutta High Court and also seeking unconditional stay.
A three-member arbitral panel had unanimously awarded ₹765 crore towards the expenditure incurred by the company, including capital loss for building the Nano car factory at Singur, apart from the cost of litigation, in 2023.
The SLP before the apex court was filed by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) challenging the decision of the HC which had dismissed its application to implead (make one party in a case) one of the arbitrators.
A bench presided by Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar after hearing a battery of senior lawyers appearing for WBIDC observed that such a petition is uncalled for and ill-advised.
The court further observed that the SLP does not raise any ground or question of law for interference as the Section 36 petition is pending before the HC and that there is no ground of fraud or corruption made out as alleged by the petitioner. While the state has filed petitions to challenge the award and seek a stay, Tata Motors has also filed a petition to enforce the award.
The Singur factory was 90 per cent complete when the Tatas decided to pull out of Bengal. The company later initiated arbitration seeking damages. Tata Motors was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, while WBIDC was represented by Kapil Sibal and advocate general of Bengal Kishore Datta.