HC slams West Bengal Govt for delay in handing over land to BSF for fencing India-Bangladesh border
The Calcutta High Court has reprimanded the West Bengal Government for failing to comply with its order to hand over land to the BSF to fence the India-Bangladesh border in the state, noting that only eight-kilometre stretches of the 127 km have been given to the border guarding force so far.
On January 27, a division bench presided by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul had directed the state Government to hand over 127 km of land “already acquired/purchased”, for which “compensation” had been “received by the state Government from the Centre”, to the BSF by March 31.
Castigating the state for not handing over the entire 127 kms of land to the BSF in nine districts by the end of March, the High Court on April 22 directed the state Government to file a detailed affidavit within two weeks, informing it of the steps taken to comply with its January order.
It expressed displeasure over the state Government handing over just eight kilometres of land instead of the 127 km as ordered by the court.
“What is surprising and shocking is that in a matter of national importance, the respondent state has not thought it proper to file their report on affidavit,” the court observed.
“A sketchy and evasive report has been filed which does not disclose date and place-wise as to what action has been taken for handing over the land after passing the order of this court on January 27, 2026,” it noted.
The court imposed a cost of `25,000 on the officer who has filed the report, to be paid from his own pocket, for non-compliance with its earlier order.
“We deprecate the practice of filing such an evasive and sketchy report,” the division bench, also comprising Justice Partha Sarathi Sen, said.
The court directed the state Government to file a detailed affidavit, informing it of the day-to-day steps taken district-wise in compliance with its January 27 order.
“The report must disclose the steps taken by each of the districts for handing over the land” to the BSF after the January 27 order, the division bench directed, ordering the state to file a compliance report in the form of an affidavit within two weeks.
It said that if the entire land could not be handed over, the minimum expectation was to show the reasons for not complying with the court order.
The report is silent about the same, the High Court observed.
The court made the observation while hearing a PIL filed by Lt General Subrata Saha (retd) seeking direction to the West Bengal Government to hand over land to the BSF for fencing in the interest of national security.
The High Court will hear the case next on May 13.
