KOLKATA: Calcutta high court on Tuesday warned that it would direct police not to permit meetings and rallies on the streets of Kolkata unless political parties appeared in court to state their position on the inconvenience caused to people due to such events. The division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the state government to publish notices in three newspapers to inform political parties to be present in court on November 27.

Significantly, just hours after this HC observation, Trinamool held a rally that choked central Kolkata for hours, putting thousands of homebound schoolchildren through torture.

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The division bench was hearing a PIL by advocate Akshay Sarangi against political meetings and rallies on weekdays that cause immense inconvenience to people. When the matter was first heard in September, the court had directed the petitioner’s advocate, Srikanta Dutta, to serve notices on all 78 registered political parties, asking them or their representatives to be present in court on October 6. After hearing started on Tuesday, Dutta submitted that he had served the notices but no one had appeared in court. Chief Justice Chellur expressed her displeasure and said: “Since no one has appeared for the respondents, I will direct police not to grant permission to political meetings or rallies. That is the only way they will come running to court. This has become a regular affair. Even yesterday, I noticed the traffic chaos caused by such rallies in Kolkata. Why should the common man suffer due to political events.”

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This is not the first time that the high court has passed strictures against political events that affect life in the city. On September 29, 2003, Justice Amitava Lala had banned political rallies and meetings on Kolkata’s streets between 8am and 8pm on weekdays, triggering huge protests from parties of all shades. The judge had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings after getting caught in a traffic jam due to a political procession. The order had sparked off a political debate on whether it infringes upon people’s right to assemble peacefully. The Left Front had opposed it vehemently, taking to the streets with the slogan “Amitava Lala Bangla chhede pala (Amitava Lala, quit Bengal)”. The court had held LF chairman Biman Bose in contempt and sentenced him to three days in prison and a fine of Rs 10,000. In 2010, the Supreme Court quashed this sentence.

