Durga Puja is a secular festival, not purely religious: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on Friday observed that Durga Puja is one of the most secular festivals and was not a purely religious one [Manab Jati Kalyan Foundation v. State of West Bengal]..Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya made the observation while ordering the authorities in Kolkata to permit an organisation to hold Durga Puja celebrations at a designated public ground in the city. The Court refused to accept the argument of the authorities that the petitioners, under Article 25 of the Constitution, do not have any right to perform worship in public parks, roads, foot-paths, etc."As is public knowledge, the Durga Puja Festival is not confined merely to the worship or religious offerings component of the incarnation of feminine power but also a melting pot of different cultures...Hence, there is as much an element of ceremony, cultural programmes, festival and fanfare involved as religious worship. In such sense, the Durga Puja Festival is much more secular in nature than a pure religious performance of a particular community and cannot, thus, be narrowed down to being a mere 'religious offering' of a particular community," the judgment said..The Bench was hearing a plea challenging the authorities' refusal to allow the petitioners to hold Durga Utsab 2023 in the New Town Mela Ground, which is used for the purpose of holding different fairs.The authorities raised several objections, which, according to the petitioners, were flimsy pretexts to refuse permission to them. The petitioners relied on Article 14 of the Constitution of India, arguing that they have equal right as others to hold a Durga Puja festival on the said ground..After hearing arguments, the Bench observed that the primary distinguishing feature in the present case is that the site at which the Durga Puja Festival is sought to be held by the petitioners is not a street or a foot-path or even a playground, but a specifically designated ground for holding fairs."No intelligible or reasonable differentia has been made out by the authorities between a Durga Puja Festival and ordinary fairs or other festivals designated to be held on the Mela Ground. Both entail huge footfall and gathering of crowds including parking of vehicles of the people who come to visit," the Court opined.It junked the argument that the Kolkata Police would be burdened if the Durga Puja is allowed at the site. It said such an argument is 'absolutely baseless' since it is a common feature in the entire State that there are numerous huge Durga Pujas organized by several entities quite close each other..The Bench added that the mere fact that a person resides or has office elsewhere cannot be a deterrent for permitting him to organize a festival on public property specifically designated for holding public functions."Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees that all citizens have the right to assemble peacefully and without arms and to move freely throughout the territory of India. The specific purpose of such rights shall be frustrated if people are refused permission by public authorities on the ground of their residing elsewhere, unless there is a specific intelligible reason for such discrimination or a policy decision in that regard, also based on intelligible criteria," the Court said.It was also noted that the petitioners had agreed to pay full charges, as sanctioned by law and procedure, for organising the said festival..Advocates Tarunjyoti Tewari, Sandip Ray, Hiranmoy Debnath, Polly Banerjee and Paramita Dey appeared for the Petitioners.Advocates Ratul Biswas and Chandan Kumar Mond represented the State..[Read judgment]