Can’t claim public space as a right, no Hanuman Chalisa on Red Rd: Cal HC
Times of India | 12 April 2025
12 Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Friday refused permission for a mass recital of Hanuman Chalisa on Red Road on Saturday to mark Hanuman Jayanti, saying no one could claim a public place as a matter of right.
The petitioner, Hindu Seva Dal, had moved court after Kolkata Police proposed two alternative spots to hold their event even though the Army — the custodians of Red Road — had no objection. The petitioner's counsel also argued in court that the same spot had been okayed for Eid prayers on March 31 and is also regularly green-lighted by cops for the annual Durga Puja carnival held by state govt.
Neither argument worked: Justice Tirthankar Ghosh observed that Eid prayers at that spot "had history", while advocate-general Kishore Datta pointed out that the Puja carnival was part of the National List of Heritage Programmes, which had a Unesco heritage tag.
Counsel for the petitioner moved the HC division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee (Das) against the single-bench order. The division bench was initially reluctant to hear the petition. "I don't want to hear petitions on Hanuman Jayanti and Ram Navami anymore," the CJ said. And though the CJ later granted leave to file the petition, the division bench declined to interfere with the single bench order.
Earlier in the day, Justice Ghosh noted that the organisers had proposed to hold the event on Red Road for the first time and wanted the petitioner to establish his right through an exchange of affidavits. The court kept the matter open for adjudication and directed the inclusion of the matter in the monthly list of July.
"No one can claim a public place as a matter of right," Justice Ghosh said. "For the establishment of a right to hold any religious practice at a public place for the first time, the right has to be established before the court of law through the exchange of affidavits."
Counsel for the petitioner submitted in court that the Army, had given permission to organise the programme between 5am and 11am. But Kolkata Police, in its response on April 8, had proposed two alternative spots for the programme: Shahid Minar and Rani Rashmoni Avenue. The cops had refused to green-light Red Road as a venue, citing traffic congestion and public inconvenience, which could cause law-and-order problems, counsel told court.
The petitioner's counsel also told HC that the cops had given permission for Eid prayers at the same place on March 31; the same spot is also okayed by police for the annual Durga Puja carnival, held by state govt.
Justice Ghosh told the lawyer that the holding of Eid prayers on Red Road had a history. "It was shifted from Shahid Minar to Red Road back in 1919, when Shahid Minar got waterlogged," he said. The judge also wanted to know whether Hanuman Chalisa recitals had ever been organised on Red Road before this. Counsel submitted that the proposed event on Saturday would be the first.
"Your main thrust of argument is that permission was given to another community and, hence, it should be given to you," Justice Ghosh observed.
Advocate-general Datta cited a Supreme Court judgment of 1994 (Md Ismail Faruqui and others vs Union of India), in which the apex court had said that offering prayers in a particular place would not apply unless the place had particular religious significance.
"I do not have a right to worship or offer prayers at any and every place. The petitioner must show that the place had religious significance, integral to the religion," Datta said.
The AG also rebutted the petitioner's plea about the Durga Puja carnival on Red Road, saying the event was part of the National List of Heritage Programmes and had a Unesco heritage tag.