New Delhi, Jul 10 (IANS): The Supreme Court Wednesday asked Tata Motors to consider restoring the land for small car Nano factory in West Bengal back to the state government so that it could be returned to the agriculturists from whom it was acquired.

The apex court bench of Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Dipak Misra told Tatas that they are lease holders. "You are not carrying out any business there. You cannot be expecting any profit from land. Why should you come in the way of the state handing it back to the agriculturists?" the court said.

The court asked Tatas' counsel Gopal Jain to respond to its suggestion by Aug 6. The West Bengal government and the central government represented respectively by senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi and Solicitor General Mohan Prasaran told the court that the state is willing to return the compensation with interest to Tatas if they restore the land to the farmers.

The court's suggestion to the Tatas to hand over the land back to the state came in the course of the hearing of a petition by the West Bengal government challenging the Calcutta High Court order quashing its law to take over the Singur land.