The Calcutta High Court has refused to grant the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) an unconditional stay on a massive arbitration award favoring Tata Motors. The ruling, delivered Thursday, marks a significant development in the long-standing legal battle stemming from the abandoned Nano car project in Singur.
Justice Aniruddha Roy directed the state-run corporation to furnish detailed security—including an inventory of immovable properties—as a condition for staying the ₹765.78 crore payout.
While the court granted a temporary, unconditional stay for a period of eight weeks, it made clear that the halt on the award’s execution is contingent upon strict compliance.
Justice Roy ordered the WBIDC to calculate the total amount due, including the principal and the 11% annual interest, as of the date of the judgment. Within the next eight weeks, the corporation must submit an affidavit disclosing all unencumbered immovable properties it owns in Kolkata and elsewhere, supported by original title deeds.
Furthermore, the court stipulated that if the value of these properties fails to cover the total awarded sum, the WBIDC must provide the remaining balance in cash security.
The dispute dates back to 2008, when Tata Motors was forced to relocate its planned “Nano” manufacturing unit from Singur, in West Bengal’s Hooghly district, to Sanand, Gujarat. The exit followed a high-profile anti-land acquisition movement led by Mamata Banerjee, who was the opposition leader at the time.
The land for the project had originally been allotted by the WBIDC. Following years of litigation and arbitration, a tribunal ruled on October 30, 2023, that Tata Motors was entitled to an aggregate sum of ₹765.78 crores plus interest.
The WBIDC had approached the High Court seeking to freeze the award without conditions, citing its status as a government-backed entity. However, the court maintained that the corporation must guarantee its ability to pay should the award become final.
The WBIDC must now provide a formal undertaking pledging to pay the full principal and interest within eight weeks of the award’s finalization. If the corporation fails to file the required affidavit or deposit the necessary cash security within the eight-week window, the court warned that the stay will be automatically vacated, potentially allowing Tata Motors to move forward with the collection of the award.
