An outfit called Anjani Putra Sena, accused of violating norms in a Ram Navami procession in Howrah, on Thursday challenged the legality of the criminal proceedings initiated against its leaders by police.
Appearing for the organisation, advocate Subir Sanyal appealed to Justice Tirthankar Ghosh: “This court had directed the police to submit a report on the rally. Before submitting the report to the court, how could the police initiate an investigation based on suo-motu FIRs they had lodged against our leader? Is this not amounting to a violation of the court order?”
The state administration on Wednesday submitted a report in the high court on a Ram Navami procession in Howrah organised by the outfit. The rally violated court guidelines on multiple counts, the state counsel said citing the report.
The prosecution lawyer, Swapan Banerjee, said the outfit had far exceeded the maximum number of 500 attendees allowed by the court. He also mentioned that the outfit had used weapons in their procession and did not submit the identity details of all the people who attended the procession.
Howrah police had initially denied the outfit permission to hold the procession citing violations in the previous years. Calcutta High Court granted permission on the condition that it would follow certain guidelines.