'Mishti Doi, Aloo Posto Intextricable Parts Of Bengal's Culture As Are Public Rallies & Meetings': Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently observed that public rallies and meetings are as inextricable from Bengal's culture as delicacies such as mishti doi (sweet curd), aloo posto, and luchi (Indian bread).

A division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya while allowing a rally by government employees voicing concerns regarding their dearness allowance (DA) payments orally nor:

"Undoubtedly Mishti doi (sweet curd), luchi (bread), and aloo posto are an inextricable part of Bengal's culture, and so it appears public rallies, meetings, etc are all part of Bengal's culture. It is the opinion of one of us (CJ) that every Bengali is a born orator.  A state filled with culture and heritage."

The Bench was hearing an appeal by the State against a single bench order which had allowed the rally to go ahead. It was held that since the rally was supposed to be held today (14th March) morning, people would have already assembled and that the police were very well equipped to deal with such occasions.

The court also directed the respondent counsel to take responsibility that the rally would be peaceful and that no hate speech or sloganeering would take place to cause unrest. 

Accordingly, the Court upheld the single bench's order and conditions imposed. 

The members of the rally are employees of the government. Each of them owe a duty to the society and the state. Therefore there is no doubt that the participants will conduct themselves in a manner befitting a government employee. We must observe that these rallies are protests passing through Kolkata and other districts and have caused great inconvenience to the public at large. Organisers must be careful to find out alternative ways to voice their grievances, it concluded.