HC stays Bengal order on grants to Puja panels
KOLKATA: An unprecedented violation of the Constitution by the state government.
MD SALIM, Lok Sabha MP
Calcutta high court on Friday ordered an interim stay on the West Bengal government’s decision to pay a grant of ₹10,000 to each of the 28,000 Durga Puja committees in the state.
The bench of acting chief justice Debasish Kar Gupta and justice Shampa Sarkar ordered the stay till October 9, by when the state government will have to file an affidavit clarifying points raised by the court.
The court was acting on a public interest litigation filed by Dyutiman Chatterjee, an advocate, and Sourav Gupta, an ordinary citizen.
On September 10, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced that 28,000 puja committees in the state, of which 3,000 are in Kolkata, would be given a onetime grant of ₹10,000 each. The step would cost the public exchequer ₹28 crore.
“The decision of the state government is unconstitutional since we live in a secular state and it cannot patronise a religious festival in this manner,” said Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, the counsel for the petitioners and former Kolkata mayor, who appeared in the court.
“The government argued that the donation was given to promote the state’s campaign for safe driving that carries the slogan “Safe drive, save life’. The court was not satisfied with the reply and sought an affidavit from the state government,” said Bhattacharya.
Advocate general Kishore Dutta was present on behalf of the state.
He did not respond to telephone calls or text messages.
“On the one hand, the state government is saying they don’t have enough funds for development. On the other, they are spending money in this manner. These are steps with an eye on elections,” alleged Dilip Ghosh, president of the BJP Bengal unit.
“This was an unprecedented violation of the Constitution by the state government, since a state cannot spend public money for any religious festival. Previously, the state government diverted sport development funds by giving similar donations to clubs. Now they are trying to keep the clubs under their control through these Puja donations,” said Md Salim, CPI(M) politburo member and Lok Sabha MP.