Calcutta High Court Allows Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal To Hold Rally For Freedom Fighters, Spread Awareness About Hinduism

The Calcutta High Court has allowed the pleas filed by representatives of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal to hold a "Shourya Jagran Yatra”, which would enlighten the people of West Bengal about the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters.

On an earlier occasion, a single-bench of Justice Jay Sengputa had directed the petitioners to file a supplementary affidavit clearly demarcating the route for its proposed yatra, and to serve an advance copy of the same on the State.

Today, the Bench perused the route map presented by the petitioner, as well as their detailed proposal pertaining to modalities of conducting the yatra. In allowing the plea, the Bench held:

The people of India, that is Bharat, are a patriotic lot. West Bengal is no exception to this. In fact, the State had immense contribution in the freedom struggle against the British. Therefore, it would be too presumptuous to suppose that rallies would be required to infuse a spirit of patriotism in the people of Bengal.

However, the purpose of the rally is not on test here and the petitioners do have a right to hold such rallies. It would a part of their right to freedom of speech and expression, as guaranteed by our Constitution.

Petitioners had challenged the State police’s refusal to allow them to conduct the rally whilst a similar rally had been allowed by a coordinate bench in another writ petition.

Petitioners had also submitted that the nation-wide yatra would be peaceful, and without any weapons being wielded, and that only a modest gathering of people would assemble along a clearly demarcated and pre-planned route.

The petitioners argued that the yatra would also spread awareness about various issues relating to Hinduism and “to honour the freedom fighters who laid their lives for the country, protecting the Hindu religion and the Hindu culture.”

Advocate General for the State earlier submitted that the rally had to be halted due to “certain violations” which had occurred.

State submitted that if such Yatra is allowed to take place, the participants would have to abide by all norms relating to a peaceful procession like no chanting of provocative slogans, abiding by sound limits regarding use of loudspeaker and the like. Registration numbers of vehicles to be used should be communicated in advance to the respondent authorities along with the names of persons responsible for carrying out each of such procession.

In amending the route-map presented by the petitioners, the bench held that the night-halts of the petitioners would have to be communicated in advance to the State, such that the necessary law and order arrangements could be made.

The bench further laid down, as agreed by the petitioners, that the total number of participants, in the rally which would pass through districts aside from Kolkata should not exceed 200 people, while the rally in Kolkata was capped at a maximum of 2000 participants.

The Bench ordered that there ought not to be any sloganeering which may hurt the sentiments of any other religious communities, and directed the State police to maintain peace during the procession and aid in its furtherance by ensuring that passers-by were not inconvenienced.

The police authorities, while maintaining peace, shall not act as mute spectators and shall manage the situation in a proactive manner. If the police come to know about any disturbance in a particular area, they shall immediately intimate the participants about the same, suggest alternative routes and take necessary measures, it was concluded.

Advocates for the petitioner:

Mr. Phiroze Edulji, Ms. Anamika Pandey, Ms. Amrita Pandey, Mr. Manabrandra Bhattacharya, Mr. G. Pandey, Ms. Sneha Singh

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Cal) 305

Case: Chandan Kaity vs. The State of West Bengal and others

Case No: WPA 23781 of 2023