The Calcutta High Court imposed time restrictions on CM Mamata Banerjee’s July 21 rally, allowing processions only before 8 AM and after 11 AM, with Justice Tirthankar Ghosh aiming to ease traffic congestion during office hours.
The Calcutta High Court, on July 18, 2025, instructed that all processions heading to the Trinamool Congress’s rally at Dharmatala in Central Kolkata on July 21 must arrive by 8 a.m. or after 11 a.m.
This measure aims to ensure smooth traffic flow in Central Kolkata during peak hours.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, presiding over the single bench, stated that processions could take place until 8 a.m. and would have until 9 a.m. to settle down.
After that, processions will be permitted to resume only after 11 a.m. to avoid traffic congestion in the city’s central business district between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
The court’s order read,
“From 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m., the police authorities would ensure that there is no traffic congestion through the routes which will lead to the High Court at Calcutta or within a fringe of 5 kilometers where the Offices are situated at the Central Kolkata… Commissioner of Police, Kolkata would ensure that deployment of police force be adequately maintained to ensure smooth traffic movement.”
For the past two decades, the Trinamool Congress has organized a significant Martyrs’ Day rally in Central Kolkata on July 21 to commemorate 13 individuals who lost their lives in a police firing during a protest movement by the West Bengal Youth Congress on July 21, 1993, as stated on the party’s official website.
In a verbal observation on Thursday, Justice Tirthankar Ghosh also encouraged the Trinamool Congress to consider an alternate venue for the Martyrs’ Day rally in the future, suggesting locations such as Shahid Minar, the Brigade Parade Ground, or the Salt Lake Stadium.
The court was addressing a petition from a group of lawyers who expressed concerns about potential inconvenience to commuters due to the rally scheduled for a Monday morning this year.