The Calcutta High Court has allowed the CPM to set up a book stall within 100 metres of its party office on Jessore Road in Bongaon, North 24-Parganas, during Durga Puja, directing the police to provide adequate security and ensure law and order.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya issued the direction on Thursday after questioning why other temporary stalls had been permitted along the same stretch while the CPM was denied permission. The court said the state must provide space for people with different political ideologies and indicated that authorities could not apply different standards to different organisations.
“Where everyone has the opportunity to sell their goods, the petitioner (CPM) cannot be stopped from selling books,” Justice Bhattacharyya observed. On Wednesday, he had also said that the state should “not stifle the voice of other parties, as that is not the spirit of democracy”.
The dispute followed the CPM’s allegation that it was denied permission to set up its traditional book stall near its party office, while other organisations were allowed to operate stalls in the area. The court’s observations referred to permission granted to the Hindu Jagran Manch, an RSS affiliate, to set up a stall on Jessore Road.
The state government argued that the issue was related to land permissions rather than police bias. Its lawyers said the CPM had not obtained the required permission from the Public Works Department, which controls the land, and that the police could not provide security for an unauthorised structure.
Senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, appearing for the CPM, argued that the administration could not impose different standards on different organisations. Advocate-general Surjit Nath Mitra said the state could not authorise construction on land controlled by another authority. Additional advocate-general Billwadal Bhattacharya told the court that the owner of the house where the CPM office is located had allowed the Hindu Jagran Manch to erect a stall, while the CPM had not sought PWD permission.
Justice Bhattacharyya questioned whether the other stall operators had obtained the necessary PWD permissions. “Why pick and choose?” he asked, adding that if the authorities maintained that the stalls lacked permission, the rules would have to be applied uniformly.
The Chief Justice’s division bench had heard the state government’s challenge on Wednesday and referred the matter back to Justice Bhattacharyya’s bench on Thursday. The judge directed the superintendent of police of Bongaon police district to submit a compliance report on the order on November 23.
The state government decided to challenge Justice Bhattacharyya’s order before the division bench. The matter is likely to be heard on Friday.
