Kolkata: A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Monday, permitted the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to conduct a rally at Panihati in North 24 Parganas district in the state on Tuesday, the day on which the Trinamool Congress will organise a mega rally against the special intensive revision (SIR) in Kolkata.
The rally by both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP will be on the day when the first phase of the three-stage SIR will start in West Bengal.
While Trinamool Congress’s rally in Kolkata will be against alleged attempts by the BJP to create an atmosphere of fear in West Bengal in the name of SIR, the BJP’s rally at Panihati on the same day is against the alleged attempts by Trinamool Congress to spread misconceptions about SIR by unnecessarily linking it with the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Incidentally, 57-year-old Pradeep Kar, a resident of Panihati, committed suicide last week, reportedly out of the fear of NRC implementation in the state.
While Trinamool Congress had already conducted a rally at Panihati on this issue last week, the BJP had announced a counter-rally at the same place on Tuesday.
However, the police did not permit the BJP to conduct the rally at Panihati, which would be led by the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.
Following this, the state unit of the BJP approached the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Kausik Chanda for permission.
After a detailed hearing in the matter on Monday, Justice Chanda gave permission for the rally, though with certain conditions.
The rally would have a maximum participation of 1,000 people, and the organisers will have to ensure that the common people do not face any inconvenience following the rally, the single-judge bench said.
Justice Chanda also directed the police to arrange for proper security for the rally and ensure law and order stability in the area.
(IANS)
