"Do Not Politicize A Development Issue," Supreme Court Pulls Up West Bengal Govt Over Kolkata Metro Orange Line Delay

The Supreme Court today dismissed a Special Leave Petition filed by the West Bengal government against the Calcutta high Court's order from December 2025 directing the State Government/Traffic Police to decide two consecutive weekend night traffic blockade dates for construction/erection of piers of the Orange metro line in Kolkata.

While refusing to entertain the plea field by Mamata Banerjee led government, a CJI Surya Kant led bench said, "Do not politicize everything.. this is a development issue."

This response came to a request made by the state government seeking time till May on account of upcoming elections. Earlier before the High Court, the state had cited festival season due to which the construction work was delayed.

"For you festival is more important than development! You told High Court that you have festivals to take care of. Festival is more important than construction of transport. We do not expect democratically elected government to knock on our doors for this. We will not allow the state to use this to stall development again," Justice Joymalya Bagchi told the state today.

The bench further went on to pull up the state government lackadaisical approach and said, "This was a fit case where your Chief Secretary, DGP should have been subjected to action. This shows complete deriliction of your constitutional duty. This is just an attempt to politicise an issue.."

While dismissing the SLP the bench ordered, "This petition merely exhibits the obstinate attitude of the authority wherein they want to delay and stall the metro rail project in city of Kolkata. We find no infirmity in order passed by the High Court."

The impugned order was passed by the High Court in a Public Interest Litigation challenging the indefinite delay in completing a crucial segment of the Kolkata Metro’s Orange Line, with the petitioner attributing the hold-up to the prolonged failure of the West Bengal government to grant necessary clearances.

The petition moved by citizen-activist, Upamanyu Bhattacharya, seeks judicial intervention against what is described as a "deliberate and unjustified" non-issuance of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the state’s traffic authorities, which has brought work on the 366-metre stretch between Beleghata and Gour Kishore Ghosh stations to a standstill.

Though the Orange Line project received approval in 2010, the viaduct segment at Chingrighata junction remains incomplete. The petitioner argued that the delay, despite repeated requests and site inspections by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), amounts to breach of fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21, depriving lakhs of commuters of access to efficient public transport and causing avoidable fiscal loss to the public exchequer.

The plea noted that RVNL constructed an alternate two-lane road for traffic diversion, on the request of Kolkata Traffic Police, and addressed all observations following an inspection conducted in January 2025. A formal request for NOC was made on January 31, yet no permission was granted. By RVNL’s own admission, efforts continued through February to June 2025, including inspections with the Commissioner of Police, meetings with Secretariat officials, and a visit by the railway minister on June 28. Still, the requisite NOC for traffic diversion at Chingrighata was not issued, halting segment launching work since February 2.

The PIL contended that the inaction is "utterly unwarranted" and "arbitrary", especially given that traffic diversions are a routine part of Metro construction across Kolkata. It cited official figures stating that the delay has cost Metro authorities Rs. 1,376 crore over three financial years, a burden borne ultimately by the taxpayer. The petitioner points out that this single segment is holding up the operationalisation of the entire Orange Line, which would otherwise complete Kolkata’s first Metro ring and seamlessly connect the Blue, Green, and Orange corridors.

Case Title: THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL Vs UPAMANYU BHATTACHARYA

Bench: CJI Kant, Justice Bagchi and Justice Pancholi

Hearing Date: March 23, 2026