Kolkata, Sep 17 The Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to hold a political rally at Sreerampur Court Ground on September 26, changing the previously allocated venue at a private property.
The court issued the order while allowing review petitions regarding permission for the political rally.
The Jagannath Jew Trustee Board had moved a review application before the single bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya against his granting permission on September 10 to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress to hold the public meeting at the board-owned 'Mahesh Jagannathdev Snanpiri Maidan' in Hooghly district's Sreerampur.
It claimed that without formal permission accorded to the petitioner, such a political meeting cannot be convened at the privately-owned ground, which this court permitted to be held on September 11.
Justice Bhattacharyya allowed the review applications by the landowner and the police, holding that without permission from the trustee board, a meeting, rally, dharna or cultural programme cannot be conducted on the private land.
He allowed the meeting to be held on Sreerampur Court Ground, a public land, on September 26.
The court directed that the programme will have a maximum of 1,000 participants.
Justice Bhattacharyya directed the inspector in-charge of Sreerampur police station to provide protection and permit the organisers to hold the meeting at the ground peacefully.
He observed that the court needs to consider whether the petitioner political party can be allowed to hold a programme on a public ground.
Considering the submissions made by the parties, the court said that the democratic rights of a political party need to be preserved as per the provisions of the Constitution.
The state and the private landowner had challenged the order of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya, which permitted the meeting on September 11 instead of a proposed rally along the congested G T Road.
Disposing of the appeals by the state and the private owner as withdrawn, the division bench had last week requested the single-judge bench to decide the review plea, if filed, by September 25.
The state contended before the division bench that the judge had not taken into consideration its submission that the venue was privately owned and that the landowner's consent was required for the meeting.
