The Calcutta High Court has directed police to allow the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to set up a bookstall near a Durga Puja pandal in Bongaon, North 24 Parganas, and provide adequate security during the festival. The West Bengal government has said it will challenge the single-bench order before a division bench.
Justice Sougat Bhattacharyya directed the Bongaon police superintendent and the officer-in-charge of the concerned police station to provide the necessary permission for the stall. The court said the CPM should be allowed to operate the bookstall within 100 metres of the location it had sought.
The order also requires the police to make sufficient security arrangements so that the stall does not face law-and-order problems during the Durga Puja days. The court has sought a report from the police superintendent confirming whether the bookstall was allowed in accordance with its directions.
The case is scheduled to come up for its next hearing on November 23. The state government is preparing to approach a division bench against the single-bench order.
The CPM had approached the High Court after alleging that it was not being granted permission to set up a bookstall in front of a pandal in Bongaon. During the hearing, the party’s lawyer said the organisation had operated a bookstall at the location for several years but had been denied permission this year, while other groups had received approval.
The CPM also referred to permission allegedly granted to the Hindu Jagaran Manch to set up a bookstall at the same location. It questioned whether the necessary permissions had been obtained by groups other than the CPM. The party argued that refusing permission to it while allowing others to operate would be unequal treatment.
During the proceedings, the court questioned the basis for preventing a bookstall from operating. Justice Bhattacharyya observed that the proposed outlet would sell books and not run a lottery shop. The court also said that permission could not be granted to one group while being denied to others and emphasised that the voice of an opposition political party should not be suppressed in this manner.
The state was represented by Advocate General Surjit Nath Mitra. During an earlier hearing, he argued that the case did not concern police inaction or overaction and therefore should not be heard by Justice Bhattacharyya’s bench. He sought to have the matter placed before the appropriate bench under the High Court’s roster, which determines the types of cases assigned to each bench.
Following that submission, Justice Bhattacharyya issued the direction allowing the CPM to set up the bookstall at the Bongaon pandal. The police superintendent’s compliance report and the state’s proposed appeal will be considered at the next stage of the proceedings.
