The Gujarat Congress on Saturday claimed that a case over the land given to the Tatas for the Nano car project in Sanand is pending in the court of law.

At a press conference, party’s chief spokesperson Arjun Modhwadia said that the land of the Anand Agricultural University (AAU) was taken on lease from the farmers of Sanand and Bod villages in 1902 for 99 years, which ended in 2001. The farmers in the region are fighting a legal case to regain the land custody, Modhwadia added.

He said the land was taken on lease agreement in 1911 by the then government formed Cattle Preservation Society, which was then given to the erstwhile Institute of Agriculture, now known as the AAU. The kin of those farmers had petitioned to the district authorities when the 99-year lease expired in 2001, he added.

Modhwadia further said that while documentary proof of an earlier land transfer does exist, which was availed through an RTI application, the documents for land acquisition are not available now.

Balwant Vagehla, a farmer, said the Congress leader had moved the court for the land claim through a Special Civil Application in the Ahmedabad district court in 2006, and that the case is still pending.