The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday dismissed Association for Protection of Democratic Rights' (APDR's) plea seeking an impartial, time-bound enquiry into identifying and holding accountable the persons responsible for the demolition of their temporary book stall near Jadavpur 8B Bus Stand without any prior notice during Durga Puja [Association for Protection of Democratic Rights v. The State of West Bengal and Ors.].
Justice Rishad Medora dismissed the plea on the ground that since the book stall was erected without the appropriate permission, no fundamental right of the petitioner (ADPR) was infringed.
However, he noted that that ADPR was free to opt for any other remedy it deemed appropriate in pursuit of its enquiry into the demolition of its stall.
"It does not appear that any fundamental right of the petitioner has been violated for it to approach this Court in its writ jurisdiction. Since no affidavit has been called for, the allegations made in the writ petition are deemed not to have been admitted by the respondents. The petitioner will be at liberty to pursue other remedies, if any, available to it in respect of the aforesaid demolition. The writ petition stands dismissed with the aforesaid observations and directions," the Court said.
According to the plea, the dispute arose when people claiming to be from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) accompanied by a sizeable police contingent allegedly forcibly ransacked and demolished ADPR's temporary book stall in the middle of Durga Puja festivities.
ADPR said that this step came after it had made representations to the Joint Commissioner of Police as well as the Assistant Director, Borough X, KMC seeking necessary permissions to erect and operate its book stall. The requisite municipal fee was also deposited with the KMC.
No communication to the contrary was received from any of these authorities after receiving ADPR's application seeking permission, the plea said.
The petitioner further added that subsequent representations detailing this incident to the Home Minister of the State, Municipal Commissioner and the Inspector General of Police and Vigilance Authority fell on deaf ears.
ADPR further prayed for a direction upon the Municipal Commissioner and the Inspector General of Police and Vigilance Authority to consider their representations for an enquiry into the demolition of their book stall.
The Counsel for the State submitted that since no permission was granted by the respective authorities, consideration of ADPR's representations by the court would be a futile exercise.
The plea also sought for compensation from State authorities for the loss incurred by them on account of the demolition of their stall.
However, the Court refused to pass any direction to that effect.
Advocates Debangana Dey and Bhaskar Roy represented ADPR.
Senior Advocate Piyush Chaturvedi with advocate Nilanjan Chatterjee represented the KMC.
The State was represented by Government Pleader DN Roy with advocates Anindya Basu and Indradeep Pal.
[Read Order]