Kolkata: Civil society initiative “Rat Dacha Okay Mancha” (Reclaim the Night Unity forum) on Tuesday approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the denial of permission from Kolkata Police for their night-long protest demonstration at Esplanade in central Kolkata this week to protest against the ghastly rape and murder of a junior woman doctor of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital.
A single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh has admitted the petition and the matter is expected to come up for hearing on Wednesday.
Incidentally, the trial process in the rape and murder case has already been completed with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) identifying civic volunteer Sanjay Roy as the “sole prime accused” in the rape and murder case at the single charge sheet filed by the agency in the matter.
The verdict in the matter is expected to be delivered by a special court in Kolkata on January 18. The civil society group wanted to organise the protest demonstration before that verdict date and for that, they approached the Kolkata Police for permission.
The police, however, denied the permission on grounds of huge gatherings in the city those days as the pilgrims from the just concluded Gangasagar Mela will start returning to their respective places and states and for that purpose, Kolkata will be the principal transit point.
After the denial of the police permission, the group has now moved the high court for permission.
According to Satabdi Das, one of the coordinators of the civil society initiative, they had planned the night-long demonstration on January 16. “After the night-long demonstration, we had plans to send a small delegation to the state Secretariat, Nabanna, and submit a deputation. Now since the police have denied the permission, we will have to wait for the court order in the matter now,” she said.
(IANS)
