Taking a U-turn from his previous stance on Singur, rebel Trinamool MLA Rabindranath Bhattacharya has suggested an out-of-court settlement with the Tata Motors.

Tata Motors, the automobile arm of $100 billion salt to software conglomerate, had acquired 400 acres of land in Singur district of West Bengal to set up a plant to produce Nano car, but political protests, mainly Trinamool Congress, by forced the company to shift the plant to Sanand in Gujarat.

When Rabindranath Bhattacharya was a member of the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, the return of the land to farmers was on top of his priority list. But, now he is arguing for an out-of-court settlement between the farmers and Tatas, saying it would be in the interest of farmers who lost their land.

Speaking on the topic, he said, "Let us not get into the debate over return of land to unwilling farmers any more. I look to a similar initiative outside the court because no one knows when the legal wrangle over Singur will come to a solution."

Recently, Tata Group's outgoing chairman Ratan Tata said Singur was a great disappointment for them but added that the company could some day go back to West Bengal.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool-led Krishi Jami Rakhsha Committee is enthusiastically preparing for the anniversary of Tapasi Malik, who had become the first victim of the violent Singur agitation.