HC riders for Ram Navami rallies, celebrations to be done with strict guidelines
Telegraph | 5 April 2025
The high court on Friday granted the Vishva Hindu Parishad and an outfit called Anjani Putra Sena permission to hold Ram Navami processions on Sunday on the condition that they will not display any metal weapons in the rallies but only PVC-made weapons or religious symbols and limit their attendees to 500 each.
The organisations had moved the court after police denied them permission citing alleged violations of court rulings last year and the year before.
“The court has asked them to use PVC weapons like trishool and gada in the processions instead of using any metal weapon. They have been asked to restrict their number to 500 each and ensure that they follow a specific route assigned to them,” said a lawyer present in the court on Friday.
The first procession, that of the Anjani Putra Sena, will start at 8.30am and finish by 1pm.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad rally will start at 3pm and will have to finish by 6pm.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, who was hearing the petitions by various organisations seeking permission to hold Ram Navami processions on Sunday, said the permit was granted against a set of conditions.
“The organisations were asked to submit a list of the people who were going to attend the processions along with their identity documents,” the lawyer said.
The court, reacting to the police denying permission citing the earlier violations, asked if the areas were violence-prone, said a court source.
The court said that if the processions were to be stopped, then all processions must be cancelled — irrespective of whether they were political or apolitical.
The police were instructed to make arrangements to escort the processions and also be present at the tail to keep an eye on the entire length of the procession.
The police have also been asked to submit a report on the processions on April 9.
Hundreds of organisations and clubs — big and small — have submitted applications to the police across the state seeking permission to hold processions on Ram Navami.
Some of them, which have a history of violating court orders in the past, have been denied permission while some have been allowed.
An officer of the rank of joint commissioner of Kolkata Police said the traditional processions that have submitted all the requisite documents according to court guide-lines had been granted permission while some were under consideration.
Calcutta High Court had issued a list of dos and don’ts earlier to prevent unto-ward incidents or communal disturbance during the processions.