Calcutta HC rejects petition against Mamata’s Durga Puja grant
KOLKATA: A division bench of the Calcutta high court rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) on Wednesday challenging the state government’s decision to give ₹10,000 to organisers of each of 28,000 community Durga pujas in West Bengal.
On October 5, a division bench of the high court of acting chief j ustice Debasish Kar Gupta and j ustice Shampa Sarkar ordered a stay on the decision of the government during a hearing of the PIL.
Durga Puja is scheduled to be held this year from October 16 to October 20.
State advocate general Kishore Dutta said the decision to grant the money was taken so that the clubs could initiate a road safety campaign, and the court cannot interfere in the executive order.
“There is no question of victory or defeat. But there are a few professional litigants who want to retard Bengal. We are grateful to the court for its verdict,” remarked urban development minister Firhad Hakim.
One of the petitioners Sourav Dutta, 49, and his counsel Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyaa, Kolkata ex-mayor, said that they were planning to move the Supreme Court against the order.
“Our means are limited but at this stage we just cannot leave the fight,” said Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyaa.
Bharatiya Janata Party Bengal unit’s general secretary, Sayantan Basu, said, “We have the highest regard for the legal system and, therefore, I would not like make any comment on the order.”