Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
The Congress on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) slammed the Modi government for its “astonishing U-turn” of moving the Supreme Court to stay all proceedings in the Calcutta High Court on petitions against the Great Nicobar Island Project, and alleged that it is mindlessly going ahead with inflicting an “ecological disaster” on the country.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared the screenshot of a media report which stated that the Union government has approached the Supreme Court to stay further proceedings in the petitions pending final hearing before the Calcutta High Court, which allege that provisions of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) were violated in obtaining consent for its ₹92,000-crore Great Nicobar Island (GNI) project.
In his post, Mr. Ramesh said, “The Modi Govt has been bulldozing through the ₹92,000 crore (revised upward from the earlier ₹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.”
One faint glimmer of hope is provided by the five different petitions filed by public-spirited citizens and civil society groups that are pending in the Calcutta High Court, the former Environment Minister said.
One of these petitions concerns serious violations of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 which affects the local tribal communities, and the final hearing is fixed for November 25 and 26, 2026 to which the Modi government had agreed, Ramesh said.
“But now in an astonishing U-turn the Modi government wants the Supreme Court to stay all proceedings in the Calcutta High Court. October 5, 2026 is the likely date on which this plea will be heard in the Supreme Court,” he said.
The Calcutta High Court had upheld the right of the petitioner, who has been a very senior official in both the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, to file her challenge, Ramesh said.
“Her right to challenge had been questioned by the Modi Government, but that had been rejected by the Calcutta High Court. 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.
“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,” Mr. Ramesh said.
He also shared the ongoing engagement with four different Union Ministers on “this unfolding catastrophe”.
The Congress party has repeatedly criticised the project, arguing that the proposed transhipment port at Galathea Bay could trigger large-scale ecological damage, including destruction of coral colonies.
Mr. Ramesh has also urged Defence Minister Singh to reconsider the rejection of a full expansion of the INS Baaz runway and has asked Tribal Affairs Minister Oram to ensure that the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 are implemented in both letter and spirit.
Published – September 30, 2026 12:54 pm IST
