The Calcutta High Court on Friday upheld a single-judge Bench order allowing the BJP to hold a public meeting on November 29 in Kolkata.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to attend the meeting.
Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya dismissed an appeal by the West Bengal government challenging the November 20 order of the single-judge Bench.
The court observed that rallies and meetings “are a regular feature in the State of West Bengal and more particularly in Kolkata”. The court said the State government was unnecessarily precipitating the problem as the BJP had applied 23 days in advance. “You are unnecessarily doing it. We will do one thing, we will ban all programmes. No rallies, no blockage of roads, everyone is treated equally. You are unnecessarily precipitating a problem,” the Bench observed.
The BJP meeting is to be held in front of Victoria House at Esplanade in central Kolkata. The Trinamool Congress organises a rally at the same venue every year on July 21 to mark Martyrs Day.
The BJP had approached the Kolkata Police seeking permission for the rally, which was denied. The saffron party then moved the Bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, which gave the go-ahead for the rally, while pointing out that the police had put up auto-generated messages denying permission for the event.
Meanwhile, there were divergent views in the Trinamool Congress on the issue. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, who is considered close to party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, said that by denying the BJP permission to hold the rally, a section of the Trinamool leadership was helping the BJP.
BJP MLA and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the Trinamool leaders believed that only they had the right to hold rallies outside Victoria House.
