BJP president Amit Shah was scheduled to flag off the rath yatras across West Bengal. BJP president Amit Shah was scheduled to flag off the rath yatras across West Bengal.

The Supreme Court Monday declined to entertain an urgent hearing of BJP’s plea against a Calcutta High Court division bench order that denied the party permission to hold its rath yatra programme, PTI reported. The apex court registry informed the lawyer associated with the BJP that their matter will be listed in the normal course. The rath yatra was scheduled to be flagged off by party chief Amit Shah earlier this month.

The BJP’s appeal comes after the division bench, last week, stayed a single-judge bench order that had allowed the party to hold the rath yatra in the state. The division bench had also asked the single-judge bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty to hear the case afresh and consider intelligence inputs by state agencies before taking a decision.

Days after the Mamata Banerjee government denied the BJP permission to hold the rath yatra, citing apprehensions of communal unrest, the single-judge bench had said that courts can “interfere” if the administration exercises its discretionary power in a “whimsical and unreasonable manner”. Justice Chakraborty had also laid down a set of conditions for the BJP and the state administration.

However, a day later, the Calcutta High Court division bench of Chief Justice Debasish Kar Gupta and Justice Justice Shampa Sarkar set aside the order, which the state government had challenged.

“We will first examine the division bench order and then decide whether to move the single bench again or the Supreme Court. Today, the court has not ruled out the Rath Yatras. So there is still scope to fight it in the court of law,” West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh had said.

The BJP was scheduled to begin its rath yatras from December 7. On December 6, a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court had refused the party permission. The BJP had then approached the division bench, which asked the state Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and DGP to hold a meeting with three representatives of the BJP and take a decision by December 14. On December 15, the administration refused permission, following which the BJP moved the high court again last week.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd