SC agrees to hear plea against Calcutta High Court’s decision allowing state funding for Durga Puja
The petioners said there were no guidelines for disbursing the Rs 28 crore the state had earmarked for this purpose.
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to consider a petition challenging the Calcutta High Court’s decision to allow the West Bengal government to disburse funds to Durga Puja committees.
The Trinamool Congress government has announced that it will distribute Rs 10,000 to Rs 28,000 to every Durga Puja committee in the state. However, the petitioners told the High Court that there were no guidelines for disbursing the Rs 28 crore the state had earmarked for this purpose. Before announcing its decision on Wednesday, the High Court had asked the state’s counsel if the distribution of such a large amount of money involved any guidelines.
On Thursday, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi accepted the plea challenging the High Court’s decision, and said the matter would be listed for Friday, Live Law reported.
In his plea to the Supreme Court, lawyer Saurav Datta alleged that the Mamata Banerjee-led government’s decision was against the established principle of law, and sought an urgent hearing, PTI reported. “The High Court failed to appreciate that there is no public purpose involved in organising Durga Puja, rather, it is a religious programme,” the plea said.
