Calcutta HC says opposition voice must not be stifled, questions CPI-M stall ban

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday observed that the opposition's voice must not be stifled as is not the spirit of democracy,

"Don't stifle the voice of other parties, that is not the spirit of democracy," Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya said while the court was hearing the CPI-M's plea to allow a bookstall on Jessore Road in Bongaon during the Durga Puja festival.

The court also observed that it is a bookshop and not a lottery shop that has been proposed and asked why it was being obstructed in this manner.


Justice Bhattacharyya asked the AG how another stall was allowed at the same place while the CPI-M’s proposed book stall was not allowed.

CPI-M sets up stalls during Durga Puja for a long time outside the pandals.

The petitioner's lawyer claimed that a stall by the Hindu Jagran Manch was set up but CPI-M’s temporary bookstall near a Durga Puja pandal at Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal for the last 50 years.

"In that event there should be a uniform stand that nobody would be allowed to put up stalls without permission from the authority on a thoroughfare," Justice Bhattacharyya said.