Filing an FIR – a joke or a lawful act of courage?
By Dr. Dinesh
In 2023, the Calcutta High Court (Circuit Bench at Port Blair) took suo motu cognisance of the appalling condition of National Highway-4, the lone arterial road linking South and North Andaman. What the Bench encountered was not merely a damaged road but the debris of official neglect. Describing the highway as “virtually non-existent,” the Court castigated the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL) for repeated delays and hollow assurances. In an unprecedented move, it imposed a ₹100-crore penalty on NHIDCL, a historic reprimand in a public-infrastructure case and a blunt reminder that administrative inertia cannot hide behind paperwork.
When a group of citizens filed an FIR on 1/11/25 alleging corruption and misuse of funds, some observers laughed, calling it farcical, how can one file a missing complaint for a road? Yet, such ridicule misunderstands the law. Filing an FIR is not a joke but a legitimate act of civic courage. It is the constitutional right of every citizen to demand accountability when public resources vanish into delays and excuses. Under several sections of Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, a well-grounded complaint can trigger investigation into the diversion or misappropriation of funds. The laughter, therefore, reflects public cynicism, not legal impossibility.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the same Bench converted collective frustration into judicial oversight. The Court’s directive to deposit ₹100 crore and furnish progress reports was no symbolic gesture but a coercive measure, binding until the final judgment is delivered. The episode underscores the judiciary’s willingness to pair deterrence with supervision in matters where public safety and public money intersect.
Elsewhere, notably in Assam, allegations of large-scale irregularities in highway and bridge construction prompted CBI investigations after similar PILs. Such precedents demonstrate that public vigilance, when channelled through legal institutions, can pierce even entrenched bureaucratic silence. A comparable court-monitored or CBI enquiry into NH-4’s execution could trace the money trail and establish individual responsibility among contractors, engineers, and supervisory officials who failed the public trust.
For island residents, this controversy is no abstract debate. Every washed-out culvert, every stranded ambulance, every lost working hour is tangible evidence that a “missing road” is not a metaphor but a daily human cost. The NH-4 debacle reveals the deeper malaise afflicting infrastructure projects across the islands, collusive contracting, lax auditing, and opaque supervision.
The blame cannot rest solely with the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, which formulates policy but does not execute projects. The failure lies within the chain of implementation, from NHIDCL and its local contractors to engineers who certified incomplete work and officials of the Andaman administration who failed to enforce oversight. Bureaucratic complacency and collusion turned a sanctioned lifeline into a corridor of neglect.
The ₹100-crore penalty (The Supreme Court stayed that Calcutta HC order and asked NHIDCL to file a comprehensive status report about NH-4 (including repairs already done and time required to complete remaining work). It signals that the judiciary will not remain a passive observer when accountability erodes. Yet, for the order to have meaning, it must lead to transparent action. The Ministry, NHAI, and Andaman administration must ensure that the penalty funds are channelled into genuine restoration, not into another round of procedural paperwork. Public involvement, through RTI petitions, vigilance complaints, PILs, and demands for CBI oversight, must continue to hold the system to account.
In a democracy, accountability travels on two wheels, law and participation. The Calcutta High Court has set the law in motion; it is now for the administration to accelerate participation by rebuilding both the highway and public confidence. Until the asphalt is finally laid from Jirkatang to Diglipur, one question will echo through the islands,
When justice fined a hundred crore, why does the road still lie missing?
*The author does not blame any particular government but highlights institutional corruption and systemic failure. The views expressed are based on facts in the public domain and judicial proceedings.