The Calcutta High Court has temporarily stayed an earlier order allowing the CPM to set up a book stall near its party office on Jessore Road in Bongaon, North 24-Parganas, after the party failed to produce permission documents from the landowner or police.
A division bench led by Chief Justice R.V. Ghuge issued the interim stay on Friday while hearing a challenge to the order passed on Thursday by Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya. The court said it could not allow the stall to operate without papers showing approval from the site’s landowner or the police. The next hearing is scheduled for January 21.
The ruling applies to the Bongaon stall and not, according to CPM counsel Samim Ahammed, to other book stalls set up by the party across Bengal. Ahammed also said the division bench had ordered the removal of a Hindu Jagran Manch stall in Bongaon if it did not have the necessary permission.
The court proceedings came as Left party leaders met to protest what they described as attacks on their book stalls and pledged to rebuild them. The meeting was attended by leaders of the CPM, CPI, Forward Bloc, RSP, CPI(ML)-Liberation and SUCI(C), including CPM state secretary Md Salim.
Salim alleged that stalls had been attacked in Dhakuria, Kasba, Behala, Howrah, Birati, Naihati, Entally and Kanchhrapara. He accused members of the RSS and BJP of vandalising or setting fire to the stalls, allegations that have been denied by BJP leaders. Salim also alleged that the state government and chief minister were attempting to influence what could be written and read during the festival season.
At least three CPM stalls were allegedly vandalised on Friday at Bijpur, Palta and Entally, according to the report. A stall at Charapole More in Bijpur was allegedly ransacked and set on fire on Thursday night, while another at Santinagar in Palta was allegedly vandalised early on Friday. The CPM rebuilt the Palta stall.
The reported incidents have also involved claims and counterclaims between political parties. BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said the party had no connection with the attackers and claimed that the CPM’s past rule in Bengal had angered many people. The BJP denied allegations that its members were responsible for an assault on 89-year-old CPI(ML)-Liberation leader Amalendu Chowdhury in Dhakuria.
In Cooch Behar’s Sitai, an All India Forward Bloc stall promoting the life and ideology of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was allegedly vandalised ahead of Durga Puja. Forward Bloc leader and former MP Nripen Roy blamed BJP’s Yuva Morcha members, while local BJP leader Deepak Roy rejected the allegation and accused Forward Bloc leaders of making politically motivated claims. Police have increased security arrangements in the area.
The Bongaon case places two separate questions before the court: whether political organisations can establish temporary book stalls without documented permission, and how authorities should respond when such stalls become the site of alleged political violence. For now, the High Court’s interim order is limited to the Bongaon stall, with the broader dispute scheduled to return for hearing on January 21.
