SC pulls up Bengal government over delay in Kolkata metro project
Telegraph | 24 March 2026
The Supreme Court on Monday castigated the Bengal government’s “obstinate” stalling of Metro Railway construction at Chingrighata as a “dereliction of constitutional duties” and an attempt to politicise a project that would benefit people.
It rejected the state’s plea that clearing the project now would violate the model code of conduct, apart from triggering traffic roadblocks at one of the city’s busiest intersections. Bengal votes on April 23 and 29.
“This is a complete dereliction of constitutional duties. You are running away from your responsibilities,” the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi told the Bengal government’s counsel.
“We would not appreciate the state government politicising a development issue which is for the benefit of the common man.”
Police have been delaying clearance to set up traffic blocks at Chingrighata — needed to lift concrete decks onto the Metro pillars to bridge a 366m gap in the Orange Line viaduct — despite multiple prods from Calcutta High Court.
The gap is the key missing link in the upcoming New Garia-Airport Metro corridor, now functional between only New Garia and Beleghata. Metro authorities want to set up the traffic blocks on two consecutive weekends. Construction at the Chingrighata site has been stalled for more than a year.
Hearing a PIL for the project be speeded up, the high court had on December 23 set a February 15, 2026, deadline for the lifting of the concrete blocks, directing the police to issue the clearance in time to make this possible.
The apex court, hearing a special leave petition from the state government challenging the high court’s December 23 order, declined to entertain it.
The state’s petition had cited various upcoming festivals and the Assembly elections as challenges to the grant of clearance for the construction.
When the state’s counsel said the state was “willing” to permit the project but was only seeking time till the completion of the Bengal elections, Justice Bagchi said the state was “duty bound” to do it.
“It is not that you are ‘willing’, you are duty bound. You told the high court that you have festivals to take care of. Festival is more important than the construction of a transport artery?” he said.
“We do not expect a democratically elected government to knock at our doors and ask for this type of relief…. The Election Commission does not have any difficulty (with) setting up the project.…We will not allow the stateto use this as a bogey to stall development again.”
Seeking more time for compliance, the state’s counsel pleaded that the construction would hamper the movement of ambulances and organ-transplant vehicles to and from hospitals along EM Bypass.
Justice Kant intervened to say: “We are only pointing out that (the) high court has been very magnanimous. This was a fit case where your chief secretary, DGP and other officers should have been subjected to some sort of action.
“This shows complete dereliction of your constitutional duty. This is just an attempt to politicise an issue where there is no such issue.”
Later, the bench dictated an order saying: “This appeal is frivolous and displays an obstinate attitude of the authority wherein they want to delay and stall the Metro rail project in the city of Kolkata. We are of the view that there was no infirmity in the order passed by the high court.”
Although the state’s counsel wanted to “withdraw the petition”, the bench decided to dismiss the plea, saying she had earlier been given an opportunity but had persisted with the arguments.
Pradyumna Sinha, counsel for the original petitioner in the high court, told this newspaper that the matter would come up before the high court again.
“We had filed a contempt petition in the high court. Now, that petition will be heard. We will submit the Supreme Court order in the high court,” Sinha said.
Railway sources said the high court was expected to set a new deadline to lift the concrete blocks at Chingrighata.