KOLKATA: In a setback for the Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday gave conditional permission to the BJP’s Rath Yatra programme, setting aside the state government’s refusal to grant permission on apprehensions of communal unrest.
The single bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty said that the BJP has to ensure that peace is not disturbed and the party has to take responsibility, along with the state government, for any damage caused to public property during the yatra.
The court has also asked the state government to ensure tight security for the programme and asked the BJP to inform district officials concerned 12 hours before the entry of the raths in the respective districts.
Justice Chakraborty also asked BJP to ensure that their programme does not cause traffic woes.
Rubbishing the state government’s apprehension that the yatra will cause communal tensions, the court observed that the programme couldn’t be stopped based on a single intelligence input from Coochbehar.
The court dismissed the state government’s cancellation of permission to the rath yatra on December 15.
Hailing the verdict, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh, “There will be no violence from our side. But the state government has to ensure that we are not attacked during the rath yatra. If they fail to provide security, we have to protect ourselves.”
“This is our legal victory. We are ready to fight further legal battles if the state government appeals to a higher court,” said Union minister and Asansol MP Babul Supriyo.
Reacting to the high court decision, state education minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee said that they would decide the further course of action after going through the conditions thoroughly.
He, however, said that any violence during the programme would be dealt with firmly.
Sources revealed that the state government might file a review petition in the division bench.
On December 7, a single bench of the High Court had denied the BJP permission hold the yatra, but after the saffron party filed a review petition, a division bench upturned the previous judgment and asked the state government to hold a meeting with the BJP to sort out their differences. The meeting failed to settle the dispute, and the state government again denied permission for the programme on December 15.