‘No More Delays’: HC Tells Mamata Govt To Hand Over Land To BSF For India-Bangladesh Border Fencing By March 31

New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court has issued firm directions to the West Bengal government to hand over land already acquired for fencing along the India-Bangladesh border to the Border Security Force (BSF) by March 31, 2026, making it clear that delays in the name of administrative processes will no longer be tolerated.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen passed the order while hearing a plea filed by Lt Gen (Retd) Dr Subrata Saha, a former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, raising concerns over large stretches of the unfenced India-Bangladesh Border (IBB) adjoining West Bengal.

In its order, the court noted that the India-Bangladesh border stretches over 4,096.70 km, and described the issue of unfenced portions as a matter of serious concern. The Bench emphasised that where land acquisition or purchase has already been completed and compensation accepted, the state government is under a legal obligation to hand over possession to the BSF without further delay.

“At the cost of repetition,” the court said, “West Bengal must expedite the handing over of such land across nine border districts, directing that the process be completed expeditiously but not beyond March 31, 2026.”

For cases where land acquisition or purchase is still underway, the High Court directed the state government to file an Action Taken Report (ATR) before the next date of hearing, detailing steps taken to complete the process. The Bench ordered that these proceedings must also be concluded by March 31, 2026, leaving no room for further extensions.

On proposals involving fresh acquisition, the court clarified that no direction has yet been issued and said it would examine the applicability of Section 40 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, after hearing all parties. The Bench also rejected reliance on unrelated High Court judgments at this stage, stating they were of “no assistance” to the present case.

The court underscored that it had not passed any order blocking border fencing and that only completion of processes already initiated or finalised by the government was being enforced. The prayer for interim relief was disposed of partially and both the state and the Centre were directed to file their counter affidavits within three weeks.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on April 2, 2026.

Reacting to the order, BJP leader Amit Malviya, in a post on X, claimed that the Mamata Banerjee government’s alleged attempts to stall border fencing had “hit a judicial wall”. He said the High Court’s directions made it clear that political considerations could not override national security imperatives.

The issue of border fencing along the India-Bangladesh frontier has remained a politically sensitive and administratively contentious matter, with the Centre repeatedly flagging land handover delays as a major hurdle in securing India’s eastern border.

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