kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal government and railway authorities to strictly monitor the proposed “Black Day” observance and indefinite rail blockade announced by the Adibasi Kudmi Samaj in Purulia and other districts from September 20.
A division bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Smita Das De was hearing petitions filed by the Purulia Chamber of Trade and Industry and one Goutam Mahato. The petitioners sought an injunction restraining the Kudmi Samaj from holding road and rail blockades, citing repeated disruptions in the past.
The court noted that similar agitations in September 2022 and April 2023 had forced the South Eastern Railway to cancel 39 trains, causing an estimated loss of Rs 60 crore and hardship to citizens in Bankura, Jhargram, Purulia, and West Midnapore, with ripple effects in Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
While the Kudmi Samaj argued that the protests were to press their long-standing demand for Scheduled Tribe status, the bench recalled that an earlier PIL seeking such relief was dismissed in 2023 with liberty to approach the appropriate forum. The Samaj, in a written assurance to the Purulia SDO dated September 12, 2025, promised that emergency and essential services, including Durga Puja-related movement, would not be obstructed. Reiterating its interim order of September 19, 2023, the court held that blocking rail and road traffic is “illegal and unconstitutional.”
It directed the state to deploy additional forces.