HC questions PIL on Singur agitation in textbook

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday indicated reluctance to entertain a public interest litigation challenging the portrayal of the Singur agitation in a state board history textbook, raising questions about the limits of judicial review in

academic matters.

The PIL, filed by advocate Pronay Basak, alleges that a chapter on the Singur movement in a Class VIII history book of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education presents a politically motivated and misleading account.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen asked whether a writ court could determine the correctness of competing historical narratives.

Observing that historians often differ in interpretation, the Bench queried how the court could adjudicate which version was accurate.

The petitioner’s counsel, Uday Sankar Chattopadhyay, urged the court to examine the textbook content or appoint an expert committee.

The Bench, however, asked him to first address the scope of writ jurisdiction, distinguishing the Supreme Court’s intervention in textbook matters under Article 142 as a separate context.

The court granted two weeks for further submissions. The Singur agitation, led in 2006 by Mamata Banerjee against land acquisition for a Tata Motors project, eventually led to the project’s withdrawal and return of land to farmers.