Astonishing U-turn: Congress slams Centre for moving SC over Nicobar project row

The Congress on Wednesday criticised the Modi government for moving the Supreme Court to pause all proceedings in the Calcutta High Court on petitions challenging the Great Nicobar Island Project. The party called it an "astonishing U-turn" and alleged that the government was pressing ahead with a project it says could cause serious environmental damage.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a screenshot of a media report saying the Union government had approached the Supreme Court to halt further proceedings in the petitions before the Calcutta High Court.

The petitions allege that provisions of the Forest Rights Act were violated while obtaining consent for the Rs 92,000-crore Great Nicobar Island project. Ramesh said October 5, 2026, was the likely date for the matter to come up in the Supreme Court, while the final hearing in the High Court on one of the petitions is fixed for November 25 and 26, 2026.

In his post, Ramesh said, "The Modi govt has been bulldozing through the Rs 92,000 crore (revised upward from the earlier Rs 72,000 crore) Great Nicobar Island Project. The various approvals under environment and forest laws have been deeply flawed and the impact assessment reports have been pre-fixed and are of dubious value."

He said a "faint glimmer of hope" lay in the five petitions filed by citizens and civil society groups, which are pending in the Calcutta High Court.

Ramesh said one of these petitions deals with "serious violations" of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, affecting local tribal communities, and that the Modi government had earlier agreed to the final hearing dates in the High Court.

"But now, in an astonishing U-turn, the Modi government wants the Supreme Court to stay all proceedings in the Calcutta High Court," he said.

He also said the Calcutta High Court had upheld the right of the petitioner, a former senior official in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, to file the challenge. According to Ramesh, the Centre had questioned her right to challenge the project, but the High Court rejected that argument.

"Now the Modi government is making the same argument in the Supreme Court which hopefully will allow the Calcutta High Court to proceed on the matter as scheduled," he said.

Ramesh further said, "The sad fact remains that even though these five petitions are pending in the Calcutta High Court, the Modi government is mindlessly going ahead with inflicting this ecological disaster on our country."

He also referred to his engagement with four Union Ministers in what he called an "unfolding catastrophe".

The Congress has repeatedly opposed the project, saying the proposed transhipment port at Galathea Bay could lead to large-scale ecological damage, including the destruction of coral colonies.

Ramesh has also urged Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to reconsider the rejection of a full expansion of the INS Baaz runway and asked Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram to ensure that the Forest Rights Act, 2006, is implemented in both letter and spirit.- Ends