The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted permission to Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and other BJP MLAs for holding a sit-in dharna at Mandirtala bus stand, close to state secretariat, Nabanna, after the Enforcement Directorate allegedly faced obstruction from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other government officers during raids at the office of political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC).
While disposing of the petition, the court set down a few conditions to be followed by the protesters, including no inciteful speech or abusive language and restricting the number of the MLAs participating in the demonstration to 50 among others.
On Tuesday, Adhikari and other BJP MLAs had moved the High Court after they were reportedly denied police permission to protest outside the secretariat because the area is a highly secured zone.
After hearing all the sides, the Single Bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh granted permission with certain conditions. The order read, “The petitioner is permitted to hold such a demonstration at Mandirtala bus stand on 16 January, 2026 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.”
The court in its order stated that “the MLAs participating in the demonstration shall be strictly restricted to 50”. If any stage is to be erected for the demonstration it should not be more than 12 feet by 15 feet, said the order. According to the order, “The demonstration shall not cause any obstruction to the public at large or free flow of traffic”.
“Also no inciteful speech or abusive language shall be used in the demonstration,” mentioned the order. Furthermore no microphone shall be used in the demonstration as undertaken on behalf of the petitioner. Relevant rules with regard to noise pollution shall be strictly adhered to, stated the order. “The names of at least 10 volunteers along with their respective mobile phone numbers will be furnished to the police authority at the earliest. These volunteers shall be responsible in the event of any untoward incident in the course of demonstration,” said the order.
The police authority shall deploy an adequate number of police personnel to ensure that no breach of peace occurs. The court has also stated that the participants in the demonstration shall disperse within two hours of completion of demonstration and the place be adequately cleaned and restored to its original position within 24 hours of the demonstration.