Kolkata, Jan 18 – Calcutta High Court on Thursday given conditional approval for the ‘Harmony Rally’ to be organised by the ruling Trinamool Congress on January 22 that coincides with the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
The leader of the opposition in West Bengal, on Wednesday, moved a petition in the Calcutta High Court seeking court’s intervention in postponement of the rally on grounds that it might create law and order problems in the state.
However, on Thursday the Calcutta High Court dismissed the plea on this count while imposing certain conditions for organising the rally.
The first condition was not that slogan or statement cannot be uttered either from the rally or from the following meeting that might hurt the religious sentiment of anyone.
At the same time the Calcutta High Court also directed the administration as well as the concerned rally organising party that the proposed Harmony Rally should not disrupt the normal traffic movement, especially as regards to the movement of ambulances.
Although the Calcutta High Court also dismissed the additional plea of the leader of the opposition for deployment of central armed forces personnel throughout the state on January 22, it directed the state home secretary and state police director general to initiate in ensuring that there is no deterioration in the law & order situation in West Bengal on that day.
On the ruling party’s proposal for conducting similar ‘Harmony Rallies’ in all the districts of the state, the Calcutta High Court directed all the district magistrates and district police superintendents to enquire whether necessary permission had been sought from the local administration for conducting such district-level rallies.
The Calcutta High Court has also observed that the rally organisers will be responsible in case there is some untoward incident over the event. The proposed rally, which will be led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is scheduled to start from Hazra Crossing in South Kolkata and end at Park Circus Seven-Point Crossing in Central Kolkata.
src/dpb
