Didi consults govt pleader on Singur

A government counsel explained that normally the chief minister discusses such sensitive cases with the advocate-general and law minister. But today Mamata called Ashoke Banerjee as Advocate General Anindya Mitra has not been attending high court for more than a week.

According to sources,Mamata and Ashoke Banerjee discussed how the Singur case can be fought in the Supreme Court. After the meeting,Ashoke Banerjee only revealed that the government was thinking about filing an appeal in the Supreme Court.

The Calcutta High Court had ruled on June 23 that the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act,2011,introduced by the Mamata government to recover land leased to Tata Motors in Singur for its Nano project,was unconstitutional and void. The division bench gave two months’ stay for filing an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Ashoke Banerjee had accepted moral responsibility for the government’s defeat. He told mediapersons: “The government advocates might have failed to deal with the case properly.” Ashoke Banerjee,Advocate General Anindya Mitra,and Trinamool Congress MP and advocate Kalyan Banerjee had argued on behalf of the government.

The government pleader did not blame the government for introducing the Singur act in June last year. He said it was the duty of the government advocates to convince the court. The advocates might have made a mistake in doing so,he had said on Friday.

Ashoke Banerjee had decided to resign as government pleader last week because of the huge workload. But he changed his mind after the Singur verdict to maintain his professional reputation,a source said.