The government will purchase the 42-cottah plot in Naktala that the civic body is accused of illegally occupying, advocate-general Jayanta Mitra told the high court on Wednesday.

Mitra submitted before Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya that the Bengal government was ready to deposit Rs 6 crore through the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority with the court by April 11 as advance payment for the plot.

Mitra's submission stopped Justice Bhattacharya from calling the army to get the plot - at 253C NSC Bose Road - vacated.

On October 9 last year, the court had ordered that the plot had to be vacated and the owner paid the rental arrears.

The government cleared the arrears on October 16 but did not return the plot to its owner.

A 500-strong force, led by the then police commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha, had visited the plot in December - ostensibly to get it vacated - but beat a retreat after facing resistance from local youths and Trinamul followers, including the husband of a Trinamul councillor.

Metro had reported how state agencies and political leaders had collaborated to illegally occupy the plot.

"During the hearing yesterday (Tuesday), the judge had summoned additional solicitor-general Kaushik Chanda to his court, saying he would issue an order asking the army to get the plot vacated," said CMC lawyer Alok Ghosh.

On Wednesday, Chanda was present when Mitra made his submission.

After Mitra's assurance, the judge adjourned the hearing and said: "The state authorities are directed to deposit Rs 6 crore to the registrar-general of the high court, who would deposit the amount in a nationalised bank. Steps for paying the rest amount to the owner will be decided through discussions later."

The estimated value of the plot is Rs 13 crore.

Owner Lina Datta, 72, had moved a petition, saying she wanted to reclaim her plot, which had been requisitioned by a state agency 43 years ago.

Since the plot had not been used for the purpose it had been requisitioned for, it should be returned to Datta, her counsel had told the court.

Her lawyer Pradeep Sancheti said the Calcutta Metropolitan Water and Sanitation Authority (CMWSA) had "requisitioned" the land in 1972 to set up a drainage pumping station.

By "requisitioning" the land, the CMWSA - a state agency - became a tenant. "Acquiring" the land would have given the state ownership of the plot.

Of the 42-cottah plot, the drainage pumping station, which had been handed over to the CMC, occupies 12 cottahs. The rest belongs to Youth Club, which enjoys the patronage of Trinamul minister Aroop Biswas.

Datta's husband Sisir told Metro on Wednesday: "We are still not sure whether the government is acquiring the plot or not. If they are, we will not resist it."