The Kalighat Trinamool Congress meeting scheduled at Mahesh in Hooghly on Friday, September 11, has been postponed following an intervention by the Calcutta High Court.
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was scheduled to attend the political programme. The matter will now come up before the Chief Justice’s Division Bench at around noon on Friday.
Single Bench grants conditional permission
The development came hours after Justice Saugata Bhattacharya of the High Court’s Single Bench granted conditional permission to Kalighat TMC to hold the meeting in Hooghly.
The West Bengal government subsequently challenged part of the order before the Division Bench, seeking clarification over the use of the venue allotted for the programme.
The case was also taken up by the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ghugé and Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty on Thursday afternoon.
Government raises venue concerns
The meeting was permitted at the Jagannathdev Snanpindi Maidan in Mahesh. However, the state government told the court that it had no objection to the political meeting itself but raised concerns about the ownership and use of the ground.
Additional Advocate General Bilwadal Bhattacharya, appearing for the state, pointed out that the venue is privately owned.
The government argued that while the Single Bench had directed the police to ensure that no untoward incident took place during the meeting, police authorities could face difficulties if the private owner refused permission to use the property.
Owner objects to political programme
The owners of the Mahesh ground also approached the court, stating that the property is generally used for religious and cultural activities, including during the famous Mahesh Rath festival.
According to the owners, they were not willing to allow the property to be used for the proposed political programme.
The state therefore requested the Division Bench either to exclude the police from any dispute involving the private property or direct the organisers to shift the meeting to an alternative location.
Chief Justice asks for alternative venue
During the hearing, the Chief Justice observed that organisers should consider the interests of ordinary people before holding political programmes.
The court indicated that political events should be organised at locations where they would not cause inconvenience to the public and asked the parties to return with an alternative venue.
The Division Bench is scheduled to hear the matter again on Friday.
