West Bengal ‘rath yatras’: Supreme Court to hear BJP’s plea against Calcutta HC order on January 8
The top court on December 24 had refused to accord an urgent hearing to the petition against the High Court’s decision disallowing the planned rallies.
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on January 8 the Bharatiya Janata Party’s petition against a Calcutta High Court judgement that had upheld a West Bengal government order disallowing the party’s “rath yatras” in the state. The matter was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SK Kaul, PTI reported.
On December 21, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court had set aside an earlier judgement by a single-judge bench that had allowed the party to hold the rallies. The BJP challenged the order, but the Supreme Court had refused an urgent hearing on December 24.
On December 15, the Trinamool Congress-led government had denied permission for the rallies, citing intelligence reports that allegedly warned of possible communal violence in areas where the BJP planned to hold the events. But the BJP in its plea had argued that the state government could not withhold its fundamental right of holding a peaceful rally based on conjectures.
The rallies are expected to cover all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state before the General Elections later this year.