Calcutta HC Cancels Mamata Banerjee Govt's Order Restricting Durga Idol Immersion

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday cancelled Mamata Banerjee government's order restricting Durga idol immersion that could have possibly let to a clash with Muharram processions,  reported NDTV.

"You are exercising extreme power without any basis...Just because you are the state, can you pass arbitrary order?" the HC questioned the government.

The Calcutta HC came down hard on the state government again today, saying  that 'there is a difference between regulation and prohibition.'

The court also told the government that it was " exercising extreme power without any basis." "If you get a dream, that something will go wrong, you cannot impose restrictions," the court said. 

Yesterday, questioning the West Bengal government's curbs on Durga idol immersion, the Calcutta High Court said the State cannot hinder a citizen's right to practise religion on the basis of a mere assumption of law and order disruption and must provide sound reasons for doing so.

"Let them (Hindus and Muslims) live in harmony, do not create a line between them," Acting Chief Justice Rakesh Tiwary said, asking the government to provide a "concrete ground" for its decision to stop the immersion of Durga idols after 10 pm on September 30 (Vijaya Dashami day) and on October 1 on account of Muharram.

Hearing three PILs challenging the restrictions on immersion of idols at the end of the five-day Durga Puja festival, a bench, also comprising Justice Harish Tandon, had said a mere assumption that a law-and-order situation might arise, owing to Vijaya Dashami and Muharram falling one after the other, could not be the basis of imposing curbs on immersion timings.

Observing that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had herself told a public meeting that Hindus and Muslims lived together in harmony in the state, the bench said, "Listen to what the head of the state says and not a police officer."

"People have the right to practise their religious activities, whichever community they may be of, and the State cannot put restrictions, unless it has a concrete ground to believe that two communities cannot live together," the acting chief justice said.

The West Bengal government has imposed restrictions on Durga idol immersions on September 30, the Vijaya Dashami day, after 10 PM and no immersion would be allowed on October 1, the day Muharram is scheduled to be observed.

With Agency Inputs