The court, however, did not pass any order on a request by petitioner Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in state and BJP MLA, for deployment of paramilitary forces in the state on that day.
Adhikari’s counsel told the court that permission had been granted for 35 programmes in the city related to the consecration of Ram temple, from 11 am to 5 pm on January 22.
State’s Advocate General Kishore Dutta argued that the petitioner’s concerns about unrest and breach of peace during the Sampriti rally on January 22 were speculative.
In his PIL, Adhikari prayed that TMC not be allowed permission to hold the rally on January 22 and sought direction from the court to the state’s chief secretary, home secretary and the DGP to ensure there is no breach of peace.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced on Tuesday that she will lead a ‘rally for harmony’ in Kolkata on January 22, the same day as the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “We welcome the Calcutta High Court order regarding the rally. It is a tight slap for the BJP leaders who had moved the court trying to stop it. This is a victory of the people over the communal designs by the BJP.”
Ghosh claimed that the rally is not related to the Ram Temple inauguration, emphasising its association with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary on January 23 and Republic Day on January 26. Senior TMC leader and state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said, “The rally has nothing to do with any BJP political programme. So what is the harm in conducting a harmony rally in the state? By opposing the rally, the BJP has exposed its communal designs.”
In response, BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya remarked, “Earlier we have seen the state getting engulfed in communal riots during Ram Navami processions.” BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar supported Adhikari’s decision to move the court. “The state government in its bid to appease a specific community time and again has taken steps which are against the Hindu community. We feel that this rally will be an attempt by the TMC to flare up communal passions,” he said.
HC permits ISF rally on January 21
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday permitted the holding of a rally by Indian Secular Front (ISF) on January 21 in front of Victoria House at Esplanade in the city on its foundation day.
Justice Jay Sengupta directed that the entire programme will be videographed by the police, as well as the petitioners. The ISF moved the high court seeking direction to the Kolkata police to grant permission for the rally claiming that it was denied when a formal application was made. The state opposed the prayer, submitting that during last year’s meeting of ISF at a nearby place on the same date, violence had taken place and police personnel were attacked and vehicles were damaged, creating chaos in the streets of Kolkata