Court holds organizing Kolkata Book Fair a private activity despite State support, declines writ jurisdiction over stall allotment dispute
In a significant judgment delivered on October 6, 2026, the Calcutta High Court (Division Bench) dismissed a writ petition filed by the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights and another against the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the organizers of the International Kolkata Book Fair. The petition sought judicial intervention under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging the Guild's refusal to allot a stall at the 48th edition of the Book Fair.
The appellants contended that the Guild, while organizing the Book Fair, was performing a public function, thereby attracting writ jurisdiction. They argued that the fair serves as a platform for dissemination of knowledge and literacy promotion, functions akin to imparting education, and thus the Guild owed a public duty. They sought directions for allotment of stalls on public law principles.
However, the Division Bench comprising Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Sandip Kumar De rejected these contentions. The Court held that the Guild is a private society registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961, functioning primarily for the benefit of its members. While encouraging literacy and education is one of its objects, the Court emphasized that the Guild neither establishes nor operates any educational institution nor performs any State-delegated educational function. Organizing a book fair is essentially a private commercial activity and cannot be equated with imparting education through institutional means recognized under constitutional jurisprudence.
The Court also observed that mere State patronage - including provision of public land at Salt Lake, police deployment, municipal services, and cultural support - does not convert the Guild's private activity into a public function. There is no statutory obligation or pervasive State control over the Guild's affairs, and the State has not delegated any essential public function to it. Unlike entities such as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which enjoy monopoly and State endorsement in public functions, the Guild lacks such characteristics.
On the legal test of "public function" and "public duty" for writ jurisdiction under Article 226, the Court reiterated established Supreme Court precedents that only entities performing statutory or State-delegated public functions are amenable to such judicial review. The allotment of stalls in the Book Fair is governed by the Guild's private contractual domain and does not attract judicial scrutiny under public law.
Further, the Court distinguished the present case from precedents involving educational institutions and other bodies discharging public functions. It also declined to follow a recent Madras High Court decision which had entertained a writ petition against a book fair organizer, noting that the facts and legal context here were different.
Consequently, the Court upheld the dismissal of the writ petition as not maintainable against the Guild, affirming that the Guild's conduct of the Book Fair is a private, benevolent, and philanthropic activity without public law obligations.
The judgment clarifies the limits of writ jurisdiction against private bodies involved in cultural or educational promotion absent statutory delegation or pervasive State control. It reinforces that activities like organizing book fairs, even with public support, do not automatically attract public law remedies unless the entity performs essential public functions.
Bottom Line:
Constitution of India, 1950 Article 226 Maintainability of writ petition against private body - Publishers and Booksellers Guild organizing Kolkata Book Fair held not to be performing any public function or public duty - Mere object of encouraging literacy and education, State patronage, use of public land and civic support do not convert holding of book fair into discharge of public function akin to imparting education through educational institutions - Allotment of stalls by Guild held to lie in private domain - Writ petition not maintainable.
Statutory provision(s):
Article 226, Constitution of India, 1950; West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961
