Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday granted the West Bengal government an additional week to submit its status report on the steps taken to complete fencing along vulnerable stretches of the India–Bangladesh border in the state.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen passed the direction after the state’s counsel sought more time to respond to anearlier order.
The matter was last heard on November 13, when the court asked the state to file its report within 15 days. The bench said it would consider the request for extension “one last time” and fixed the next hearing after seven days.
The plea, moved by Lt. General Subrata Saha (Retd), former Deputy Chief of Army Staff and currently the executive chairman of the Manekshaw Centre for National Security Studies and Research, raises concerns over what it terms a “persistent security vulnerability” arising from unfenced portions of the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal. Saha has placed before the court a compilation of official replies in Parliament, pointing to arrests of illegal entrants and repeated seizures of contraband, including narcotics, cattle, gold and counterfeit currency between 2016 and 2025.
According to the petition, the Union Home Ministry has made significant allocations for border fencing, but the progress in West Bengal has been hampered by delays in land acquisition. Out of the 2,216.7-km stretch of the international border, several segments remain open, the plea states. The PIL seeks a directive requiring the authorities to expedite fencing work across all feasible points to strengthen border security.