The Calcutta high court on Thursday said it cannot give permission at this stage for the Bharatiya Janata Party rally in Coochbehar, scheduled to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah on Friday, after the West Bengal government refused to allow the event on the grounds that it might cause communal tension.
The court directed that superintendents of police of all districts in West Bengal will file a report by December 21 to it on the holding of ‘rath yatra‘ rallies by the BJP, after hearing all the district presidents of the party.
Directing that the rally stands deferred till the next date of hearing on January 9, Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty observed that the prayer of BJP for permission to hold the ‘rath yarta‘ cannot be granted at this stage.
The BJP was scheduled to hold three ‘rath yatras‘ that will start from different parts and traverse all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies.
It had moved the court seeking a direction to the state government for giving permission for its rallies after its applications allegedly went unanswered.
The BJP campaign was scheduled to begin from Coochbehar district in the north on December 7, from Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district on December 9, and from the Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14.
State advocate general Kishore Dutta told the court that the Coochbehar superintendent of police refused permission for the BJP president’s rath yatra from Friday.
The state government submitted that it might cause communal tension in the district.
Dutta said the district has a history of communal issues and that there was information that some ‘communal provocators’ and rowdy elements had become active there.
The SP’s refusal letter also noted that several top BJP leaders would come to Coochbehar, as also people from other states, stating that these may affect the communally sensitive district.
The refusal of permission was an administrative decision in view of the ground situation, the AG said, adding that ‘details of apprehension’ cannot be spelt out in open court due to their sensitive nature and he can submit these to the court in a sealed cover, if directed.
The BJP told the court that it will hold peaceful rallies.
Asked by the judge as to who will take responsibility if anything untoward happens, BJP counsel Anindya Mitra submitted that the party will hold a peaceful rally, but it was the duty of the state government to maintain law and order.
Mitra submitted that the Constitution guarantees the right to hold political programmes.
He said that assumption of untoward situation cannot be a ground for refusal.
When the judge asked if he was agreeable to deferment, the BJP counsel answered in the negative and said that the party had started preparations for long and had approached the administration for permission in October.
He submitted that ‘it is only now that they have refused permission after sitting on the applications for long’.
The advocate general also opposed the BJP filing a supplementary affidavit opposing the refusal of permission, saying it can either come with a fresh petition or an amendment to his petition.
Later, the BJP decided to move a division bench of the court requesting a go-ahead to its rath yatra.
Reacting to the court order, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said, “We have full respect for the judiciary.
“We have decided to move to a division bench of the Calcutta High Court requesting the court to grant us permission for the rath yatra.”
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Bengal BJP president’s vehicle attacked, party blames TMC
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh’s vehicle was attacked on Thursday at Sitalkuchi area of Coochbehar district by unidentified miscreants.
Ghosh is in the district to take part in the scheduled ‘rath yatra‘. He was attacked when he was on his way to Mathabhanga in the district.
“Trinamool Congress leaders attacked my car and shouted slogans demanding that I should go back. Some of my party workers were injured during the violence.
“The police were watching merely as mute spectators,” he said after the incident at Sitai More in Sitalkuchi.
Senior TMC leader Rabindranath Ghosh termed the allegation as baseless and said the attack was a fallout of infighting in BJP.
The district police administration said they are looking into the incident.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, also the president of the Trinamool Congress, was busy playing ‘politics of appeasement’ and that is why her government blocked programmes of Shah and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat earlier.
“We are often forced to move court for seeking permission. Courts reprimand the state government every time, but she does not learn her lessons because she is busy with politics of appeasement,” Patra told reporters at a press conference.
She is running a dictatorship, he alleged.
Shah, he noted, has said that the BJP will win 26 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Source: Rediff