Setback for Mamata Banerjee government as Kolkata High Court allows Amit Shah rally

KOLKATA: The Calcutta HC on Friday allowed BJP president Amit Shah to hold a rally but appointed two special officers to ensure compliance of fire services and municipal rules for a meeting near Victoria House. Bringing an end to the controversy, the high court said that the government should not be rigid in the compliance of these rules while granting permission. However, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation is planning to appeal against the order. "We may urge the chief justice to set up a division bench to hear the order given on Friday," said a senior KMC official.

Justice Debangshu Basak appointed the director-general of state fire services and joint commissioner (development) of Kolkata Municipal Corporation as special officers and asked the city police commissioner to depute an appropriate officer to assist them to ensure compliance of rules.

Hearing a petition by the BJP alleging unreasonable denial of permission to hold the rally by KMC and fire services department, Justice Basak observed that this is the first attempt by a political party to comply with fire and municipal body regulations to hold a public meeting and as such they must be given some leeway. Welcoming the judgement, BJP national secretary Sidharth Nath Singh said, “it is a historical judgement since it paves the way for equality to be maintained by local administrators for all parties and not to be influenced by their political masters. The court's observation that it is for the first time a party after complying with the law has come to us and they should be given leeway signifies that BJP had adhered to the law and still was being denied permission.”



“ It is a wrap on the style of Mamata Banerjee's governance. They had created multiple layers to stop the rally of November 30 despite BJP seeking permission since July 22 this year,” Singh said.