Kolkata, Aug 10 (IANS) A single‑judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday granted conditional permission for a protest rally on Tuesday against the West Bengal government’s order on the removal of microphones and loudspeakers from all religious places in the state.
A petition on this count was moved earlier in the day before Justice Sougta Bhattacharya after Kolkata Police denied permission for the rally. The petition was filed by Abdul Samad, represented by advocate Sabyasachi Chattopadhyay, a CPI(M) leader.
The matter came up for hearing in the second half on Monday, and at the end of the hearing Justice Bhattacharya’s bench gave conditional approval for the rally.
The single‑judge bench curtailed the route of the rally as proposed by the petitioner. Permission had been sought for a rally from Rajabazar in North Kolkata to Rani Rashmoni Road in Central Kolkata. However, the court restricted the route to Rajabazar-Moulali in Central Kolkata.
As per the order, the rally should start at 11 a.m. and be completed within an hour. No microphones or loudspeakers will be allowed during the rally.
At the same time, Justice Bhattacharya expressed ire over the police’s denial of permission on flimsy grounds at the last moment. He questioned why the police communicated the denial on the evening of August 7 when the application had been submitted on August 3.
During the hearing, Advocate General Surajit Nath Mitra informed the court that permission was denied because certain information was not disclosed in the application.
On Monday, a public interest litigation was also filed before a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty seeking withdrawal of the state government’s order on removal of microphones and loudspeakers from all religious places in West Bengal.
The PIL has been admitted, though the date of the first hearing is yet to be announced.
Earlier, opposition parties accused the state government of specially targeting mosques. However, Chief Minister Shuvendu Adhikari clarified that the action was not limited to mosques but applied to all religious places, including temples.
–IANS
src/dan