The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to hand over all lands acquired for border fencing to the BSF by 31 March 2026. The move comes amid ongoing disputes over land acquisition for security purposes.
The Calcutta High Court, led by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul, heard a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Lt. Gen. Dr. Subrata Saha, a Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, who earlier served in several important positions.
The matter was placed for consideration of interim relief.
The petition raises a serious concern about the unfenced Indo-Bangladesh Border (IBB) that runs adjacent to the State of West Bengal. According to the petition, the IBB measures 4096.70 kilometres in total length and a substantial portion of it remains unfenced due to issues related to land acquisition.
The Court analysed the material presented and noted that certain categories of land have already been acquired or purchased and compensation has also been paid.
Referring to this, the Bench stated that,
“In view of admitted position of acquisition/purchase of lands in first category and acceptance of compensation for these pieces of land, we deem it proper to direct the State Government to hand over the aforesaid lands as per the fifth chart to the B.S.F. before 31st March, 2026.”
The Court repeated that the State must speed up the process of giving possession of the already acquired lands across nine districts and make sure this is done “expeditiously but not beyond 31st March, 2026.”
On the lands falling under the second category, where acquisition or purchase is still under process, the Court ordered the State to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) before the next hearing. The direction states that the State Government must fast-track all pending steps and finish the ongoing acquisition or purchase “before 31st March, 2026.”
Regarding the third category of lands that may require fresh acquisition, the Bench stated that this question depends on the application of Section 40 of the 2013 Act. The Court mentioned that it will decide on this part only after hearing both sides on whether Section 40 can be applied and whether it is practical to invoke it.
The order clarifies that the Court has not issued any direction for fresh acquisition so far and has only asked the Government to complete processes that have already started.
The Court noted that because of this, the earlier judgments of various High Courts in the case of Madhu Colonizers Pvt. Ltd. do not assist at the present stage, observing “at this stage, judgment of all High Courts in the case of Madhu Colonizers Pvt. Ltd. (supra) is of no assistance.”
The State Government and the Central Government have been directed to file their counter affidavits within three weeks. If any reply or rejoinder is needed, it must be filed within the next two weeks. After these directions, the Court disposed of the interim relief request partially.
The matter has been listed for further consideration on 2nd April, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. under the category “Interim Hearing.”
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Before concluding, the Bench also corrected an error in a previous order. The Chief Justice pointed out that the earlier order contained a wrong date.
The Court said,
“In the last order, the order date has been inadvertently typed as ‘22.12.2025’ whereas the correct date of order is ‘14.01.2026’.”
The Registry has been instructed to correct the record accordingly and replace the incorrect date with “14.01.2026”.
This PIL highlights an extremely significant national security issue involving border management in West Bengal. With the High Court setting strict timelines and directing both State and Centre to speed up all processes, the matter is expected to move forward rapidly in the coming months.