Calcutta HC tells Centre, West Bengal govt to file affidavit on BSF area jurisdiction

Calcutta High Court asks Union and Bengal government to file affidavits on BSF area jurisdiction. The court has set a deadline of February 22, 2022. Recently, the Union home ministry has extended that area of jurisdiction to 50 kilometres.

Kolkata:Calcutta High Court on Tuesday sought affidavits of both the Union and the West Bengal governments in the litigation on the extension of the area jurisdiction of Border Security Force (BSF). The court has set a deadline of February 22, 2022.

Sabyasachi Dutta, the counsel for the litigant, Sayan Bandhopadhyay told the bench on Tuesday argued that the union government’s order to extend the area jurisdiction of BSF is a direct attack on the federal structure of the country. “In case the state government does not approach the Supreme Court of India in this matter, the Calcutta High Court has the full authority to review whether the Union government is misusing its authority or not. The Union government is misusing the authority conferred upon it under Article 139 of the Indian Constitution,” he said.

Placing his argument in the matter, the state’s Advocate General Soumendranath Mukhopadhyay said the state government has already filed a petition at the Supreme Court of India in this regard. “We are yet to review the contents and papers of that petition. The West Bengal government will present its opinion only after reviewing the arguments in that petition,” he said.

The union government’s Additional Solicitor General YJ Dastoor said that in Rajasthan and Gujarat, the BJP area of jurisdiction is till 50 kilometres from the border. “In case of West Bengal it was previously 15 kilometres, which has now been extended to 50 kilometres. So it has been done in case of Punjab. We want more time to present our detailed argument in the matter,” said Dastoor.

Article 139 of the Indian Constitution has details on the BSF’s authority. As per this act of 1968, the BSF’s authority is within 15 kilometres from the border. Within that area BSF has absolute authority expect those matters that are strictly state subjects. Recently, the Union home ministry has extended that area of jurisdiction to 50 kilometres.