Today, On 15th October, The Supreme Court heard a plea challenging the Tata Group’s lease renewal and industrial township status. The Bench observed that the lease “cannot have any bearing on the constitutional permissibility,” highlighting separate scrutiny of corporate control over civic governance.
The Supreme Court heard a petition challenging the renewal of a lease to the Tata group and the industrial township status granted to their area.
Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for the petitioner, raising concerns over the impact on local democracy under the 74th Amendment.
Prashant Bhushan stated,
“They have notified it as an industrial township, thereby taking away all the 74th Amendment self-government rights of the local people.”
He explained that earlier laws mandated the constitution of a municipality with elected representatives. Now, the board is dominated by Tata representatives.
Bhushan argued that by declaring the area as an industrial township, the State has “taken away the democratic rights of local residents” effectively giving control of a city of over 10 lakh people to a private company.
Bhushan urged the Court to halt the lease renewal to Tata scheduled for December until the matter is resolved.
He insisted on an early hearing, saying,
“It cannot be that a city of more than 10 lakh people is just left to some company.”
He also highlighted that the proposed Industrial Township Committee will have 11 Tata members, leaving local residents virtually voiceless in governance.
The Bench observed that the lease “cannot have any bearing on the constitutional permissibility” of the township’s structure, indicating that corporate control over civic governance must be examined separately from property rights.
The Court also noted delays by the respondents, as Data Group had sought repeated extensions since May to file replies five months have passed, and there is “no justification for further delay.”
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Meanwhile, the monitoring committee submitted that it had conducted a detailed review at the micro-level in states and found widespread administrative irregularities in land use. A status report dated 14 July 2025 will be placed before the Court within two weeks.
The Supreme Court directed that the updated report identifying specific lands flagged by the CAG and other agencies be filed soon.
The case will be taken up again after the submission of this report, with the next hearing scheduled for 4 December 2025.
Case Title: COMMON CAUSE Versus UNION OF INDIA, W.P.(C) No. 204/2014