The Calcutta High Court has permitted Anjani Putra Sena to hold its Ram Navami rally on the original Howrah route with strict conditions. The decision came despite police concerns over past incidents and security risks.
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WEST BENGAL: The Calcutta High Court gave permission to Hindu group Anjani Putra Sena to organize a Ram Navami rally (Shobha Yatra) on their originally planned route in Howrah on April 6.
The organization had planned to conduct the ‘Shri Rama Navami Shobha Yatra Utsav’ starting from the Lord Narasimha Temple on GT Road and ending at Howrah Maidan. However, the local police had earlier denied this request.
Police had refused to allow the rally on that specific route, stating that earlier court orders were violated during past rallies and also citing safety and law-and-order concerns.
Instead, police suggested two different routes for the rally. Unhappy with this decision, the Anjani Putra Sena approached the Calcutta High Court seeking permission for their original route.
On Friday, Justice Tirthankar Ghosh gave permission to hold the Ram Navami rally along the requested route. However, the Court added some important conditions. One of the key directions was:
“The name of 500 participants with their identity card either in the form of EPIC Card/Aadhaar Card or PAN Card or any other identity card would be submitted to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Division, Howrah.”
This means the organization must submit a list of 500 people who will join the rally, along with their valid ID proofs, to the police in advance.
The Court also said that it will check whether the group has followed these instructions or not in the next hearing, which is scheduled for April 9.
During the court hearing, the Anjani Putra Sena told the judge that they would limit the rally to 500 people and everyone will wear special identity badges.
However, the State government objected to this request. The government reminded the Court that there were unruly and problematic situations during similar Ram Navami rallies in both 2022 and 2023.
Even though the State opposed, the Calcutta High Court allowed the rally. The Court considered the group’s promises and also the fact that this route had been used earlier for such rallies.
The Court observed:
“It is not disputed that the police is not empowered to propose an alternative route. However, the existence of the powers vested in an authority and exercising such powers are two different aspects. There were earlier orders passed by this Hon’ble Court as also it is reflected that the same route is being followed by the organization for a considerable period of time.”
To maintain law and order, the Court gave several guidelines for how the rally should be conducted peacefully. These conditions must be strictly followed by the organizers.
The Court ordered that 10 persons from the Anjani Putra Sena should be nominated to take full responsibility for keeping the rally peaceful.
Also, the Court made it very clear that no vehicles will be allowed in the rally, except one that carries the idol and the decorated tableau of Lord Rama.
It further said:
“No participant should be allowed to carry weapons, including sticks—though flags and plastic (PVC) maces would be permitted.”
For extra safety, the police were told to use surveillance vans both in front of and behind the rally to monitor the situation. The timing of the rally must also be followed strictly.
As per the Court:
“The procession must take place strictly between 8:30 AM and 12 noon.“
The legal team representing Anjani Putra Sena included Senior Advocate Subir Sanyal along with Advocates Anup Dasgupta, Anindya Sundar Das, Lokenath Chatterjee, Sukanta Ghosh, Sagnik Roy Chowdhury, Arghya Chatterjee, Saurajit Mukherjee, and Trijit Mitra.
The State government was represented by Advocate General Kishore Datta, Assistant Government Pleader Swapan Banerjee, and Advocates Santanu Mitra, Sumita Shaw, Amratya Pal, Suman Chattopadhyay, Tapasi Sinha Palit, and Sabyasachi Chatterjee.
CASE TITLE:
Anjani Putra Sena v State
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