AIKMS Central Executive Committee has welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on Singur land acquisition, annulling the acquisition of 997 acres on grounds of lack of proper procedure and ordering the land be returned to the cultivators and owners. Though the judgement has not clarified how the sharecroppers and other dependents will be compensated, it has said that all 83% owners who took compensation will not have to return it and the remaining owners will be compensated for not having enjoyed possession their land for last many years.
CEC has demanded that since the entire acquisition process has been held to be illegally conducted and invalid, the state govt should immediately pay compensation to all the share croppers, landless workers and other dependents on this land for 12 years as they all depended on it for their living.
CEC, AIKMS also demanded that all financial burden of this should be recovered from Tatas.
The judgement squarely exposes the nefarious and illegal method in which farm lands are being acquired by ruling class parties to serve interests of corporate profits including of foreign exploiters, as against the interests of Indian people. It questions acquisition “of agricultural land under emergency clause for industrial projects of private companies”. It criticises land take over saying the “brunt of development should not be borne by the weakest section of society, more so poor agricultural workers who have no means of raising their voice against the action of the mighty state govt.” It further exposes the immorality of the govt’s act saying that “even while challenge was pending, machinery was being installed on the land”.
Though several similar land acquisitions have been quashed by the Supreme Court and High Courts, this judgement is a landmark and it exposes the CPM rule further for having misused the executive machinery to deprive working people for sake of corporate profits. It exposes CPM’s contempt for farmers and agricultural workers. It once again proves that parliamentary ‘communists’ are revisionists, anti communist and anti people.

(V Venkatramaiah)                                                                 (Dr. Ashish Mital)
President                                                                                 General Secretary