Kolkata, Dec 21
The Calcutta High Court on Friday quashed the Single Bench order that allowed BJP’s ‘Rath Yatra’ in West Bengal.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Debasish Kargupta and Justice Shampa Sarkar sent the case back to the Single Bench to consider intelligence inputs by state agencies.
The two judges’ Bench order came after hearing an appeal moved by the state government, challenging the Thursday order of the Single Bench.
The Single Bench, presided by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, had on Thursday allowed the BJP’s ‘Rath Yatra’ programme, setting aside the denial of permission for the yatra by a panel of three seniormost officers of the state government.
On December 6, a Single Judge Bench of the HC had refused permission to the BJP to hold the ‘Rath Yatra’, which was scheduled to be flagged off by BJP chief Amit Shah from Cooch Behar in North Bengal on December 7. The party had then approached the division bench.
The Division Bench had on December 7 asked the state Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary and the Director-General of police to hold a meeting with three representatives of the BJP and take a decision on the ‘yatra’ by December 14. After parleys with the BJP team, the three officers refused permission for the rallies on December 15 on the grounds that it might lead to communal tension. The state BJP had moved the court again challenging the government’s denial of permission to its programme.
