In a major win for the West Bengal BJP, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed the saffron party to hold three rath yatras, which was scheduled to be flagged off by party chief Amit Shah, across the state. The court also directed the administration to ensure that there is no breach of law and order.
In a major win for the West Bengal BJP, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed the saffron party to hold three rath yatras, which was scheduled to be flagged off by party chief Amit Shah, across the state. The court also directed the administration to ensure that there is no breach of law and order.
Laying down a set of terms and conditions for the rallies, the single bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty said the yatras must not cause any inconvenience to the public and must be peaceful in nature. Besides, the police must be on alert 12 hours before it is ready to begin.
Justice Chakraborty had given BJP lawyers 15 minutes to make their final argument and the state government 10 minutes to present their counter-argument before delivering the verdict.
The saffron party had moved the court on Monday after the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government had denied it permission, for the second time, to hold the yatras. Despite holding a meeting with the party leaders last week, the government had on Saturday said, in a letter to BJP, it would not be able to grant permission to take out the rallies due to law and order concerns.
In a letter to the BJP, the state government had said, “The areas proposed to be covered by the yatra are, because of publicity and propaganda, gradually turning into communally sensitive pockets. Intelligence reports indicate that public perception is that the religious overtones of the yatra will be turned into communal propaganda. Furthermore, during the period cited, major festivals and events are scheduled, and it requires a heavy deployment of the resources of the government, including the police force. We are therefore of the opinion that, for the reasons which have been elaborately mentioned. it is not possible to allow the yatra as proposed by the BJP.”
On Tuesday, the court, however, directed the TMC to submit a video recording of the meeting held between the BJP leaders and state government officials which at taken place at Lalbazar. The BJP has proposed to take out yatras from Cooch Behar, Sagar Island and Tarapith on December 22, 24 and 26 respectively.
State BJP vice-president Joy Prakash Majumdar had earlier said, “The state government is trying its best to stop our rath yatras. However, we will hold such rallies after getting permission from court. We have full faith in judiciary and we will get justice.”
Laying down a set of terms and conditions for the rallies, the single bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty said the yatras must not cause any inconvenience to the public and must be peaceful in nature. Besides, the police must be on alert 12 hours before it is ready to begin.
Justice Chakraborty had given BJP lawyers 15 minutes to make their final argument and the state government 10 minutes to present their counter-argument before delivering the verdict.
The saffron party had moved the court on Monday after the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government had denied it permission, for the second time, to hold the yatras. Despite holding a meeting with the party leaders last week, the government had on Saturday said, in a letter to BJP, it would not be able to grant permission to take out the rallies due to law and order concerns.
In a letter to the BJP, the state government had said, “The areas proposed to be covered by the yatra are, because of publicity and propaganda, gradually turning into communally sensitive pockets. Intelligence reports indicate that public perception is that the religious overtones of the yatra will be turned into communal propaganda. Furthermore, during the period cited, major festivals and events are scheduled, and it requires a heavy deployment of the resources of the government, including the police force. We are therefore of the opinion that, for the reasons which have been elaborately mentioned. it is not possible to allow the yatra as proposed by the BJP.”
On Tuesday, the court, however, directed the TMC to submit a video recording of the meeting held between the BJP leaders and state government officials which at taken place at Lalbazar. The BJP has proposed to take out yatras from Cooch Behar, Sagar Island and Tarapith on December 22, 24 and 26 respectively.
State BJP vice-president Joy Prakash Majumdar had earlier said, “The state government is trying its best to stop our rath yatras. However, we will hold such rallies after getting permission from court. We have full faith in judiciary and we will get justice.”