The Calcutta High Court on Friday granted permission to Hindu organization Anjani Putra Sena to hold a Ram Navami rally along its proposed route in Howrah..The Anjani Putra Sena sought to hold a ‘Shri Rama Navami Shobha Yatra Utsav’ rally starting from Lord Narasimha Temple along GT Road and ending at the Howrah Maidan on April 6. The police declined to allow the rally's conduct along this route, citing violations of past court orders and security concerns.Instead, the police granted permission for the rally to be held along two alternative routes. This led the organisation to move the High Court for relief.Justice Tirthankar Ghosh on Friday allowed the organisation to conduct the rally along the initially planned route, subject to various conditions, including that the identity of the 500 proposed participants be intimated beforehand to the police. "The name of 500 participants with their identity card either in the form of EPIC Card/Aadhaar Card or PAN Card or any other identity card would be submitted to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Division, Howrah," the order said. .The Court posted the matter on April 9 to check on whether this directive is complied. .During the hearing, the organisation had assured the Court that the rally would be limited to 500 participants, each wearing badges. The State opposed the plea, citing past unruly incidents during similar processions in 2022 and 2023.Despite these concerns, the Court proceeded to allow the plea after taking note of the petitioner's undertakings and the fact that the same route had been used previously for such rallies."It is not disputed that the police is not empowered to propose an alternative route. However, the existence of the powers vested in an authority and exercising such powers are two different aspects. There were earlier orders passed by this Hon’ble Court as also it is reflected that the same route is being followed by the organization for a considerable period of time," the Court noted..The High Court also laid down several conditions to ensure the peaceful conduct of the Ram Navami rally. These included a direction that 10 persons be nominated by the organisers from among themselves who would be held responsible for conducting the procession peacefully. No vehicles would be permitted in the procession except for the one carrying the tableau and the idol of Lord Rama, the Court further said.It also directed that no participant should be allowed to carry weapons, including sticks—though flags and plastic (PVC) maces would be permitted. To maintain security, the police were instructed to deploy surveillance vehicles as well, at both the front and rear ends of the rally. The procession must take place strictly between 8:30 AM and 12 noon, the Court added. .Senior Advocate Subir Sanyal along with Advocates Anup Dasgupta, Anindya Sundar Das, Lokenath Chatterjee, Sukanta Ghosh, Sagnik Roy Chowdhury, Arghya Chatterjee, Saurajit Mukherjee and Trijit Mitra appeared for the petitioner organisation.Advocate General Kishore Datta, AGP Swapan Banerjee along with Advocates Santanu Mitra, Sumita Shaw, Amratya Pal, Suman Chattopadhyay, Tapasi Sinha Palit and Sabyasachi Chatterjee appeared for the respondent authorities. .[Read Order]
The Calcutta High Court on Friday granted permission to Hindu organization Anjani Putra Sena to hold a Ram Navami rally along its proposed route in Howrah..The Anjani Putra Sena sought to hold a ‘Shri Rama Navami Shobha Yatra Utsav’ rally starting from Lord Narasimha Temple along GT Road and ending at the Howrah Maidan on April 6. The police declined to allow the rally's conduct along this route, citing violations of past court orders and security concerns.Instead, the police granted permission for the rally to be held along two alternative routes. This led the organisation to move the High Court for relief.Justice Tirthankar Ghosh on Friday allowed the organisation to conduct the rally along the initially planned route, subject to various conditions, including that the identity of the 500 proposed participants be intimated beforehand to the police. "The name of 500 participants with their identity card either in the form of EPIC Card/Aadhaar Card or PAN Card or any other identity card would be submitted to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Division, Howrah," the order said. .The Court posted the matter on April 9 to check on whether this directive is complied. .During the hearing, the organisation had assured the Court that the rally would be limited to 500 participants, each wearing badges. The State opposed the plea, citing past unruly incidents during similar processions in 2022 and 2023.Despite these concerns, the Court proceeded to allow the plea after taking note of the petitioner's undertakings and the fact that the same route had been used previously for such rallies."It is not disputed that the police is not empowered to propose an alternative route. However, the existence of the powers vested in an authority and exercising such powers are two different aspects. There were earlier orders passed by this Hon’ble Court as also it is reflected that the same route is being followed by the organization for a considerable period of time," the Court noted..The High Court also laid down several conditions to ensure the peaceful conduct of the Ram Navami rally. These included a direction that 10 persons be nominated by the organisers from among themselves who would be held responsible for conducting the procession peacefully. No vehicles would be permitted in the procession except for the one carrying the tableau and the idol of Lord Rama, the Court further said.It also directed that no participant should be allowed to carry weapons, including sticks—though flags and plastic (PVC) maces would be permitted. To maintain security, the police were instructed to deploy surveillance vehicles as well, at both the front and rear ends of the rally. The procession must take place strictly between 8:30 AM and 12 noon, the Court added. .Senior Advocate Subir Sanyal along with Advocates Anup Dasgupta, Anindya Sundar Das, Lokenath Chatterjee, Sukanta Ghosh, Sagnik Roy Chowdhury, Arghya Chatterjee, Saurajit Mukherjee and Trijit Mitra appeared for the petitioner organisation.Advocate General Kishore Datta, AGP Swapan Banerjee along with Advocates Santanu Mitra, Sumita Shaw, Amratya Pal, Suman Chattopadhyay, Tapasi Sinha Palit and Sabyasachi Chatterjee appeared for the respondent authorities. .[Read Order]
