Calcutta High Court Denies VHP's Plea For Setting Up Stall At International Book Fair, Says Publisher's Guild Not 'State' Under Article 12

The Calcutta High Court has denied a plea by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to set up a stall at the Kolkata International Book Fair 2025.

The VHP had approached the court against the Booksellers and Publishers Guild who organised the fair and had claimed that despite being given a stall in previous years, their request for a stall was turned down by the Guild for this year's fair.

It was stated that the State had contributed immensely to the setting up of the fair and hence the petitioners were being denied their fundamental rights by the organisers.

In denying the plea by the VHP, Justice Amrita Sinha held: It is not the case that if the petitioners are not allotted any stall in the fair, then their right to business or their freedom of speech or expression will be infringed in any manner...According to the Constitution, India is a welfare State and it is the duty of the State to take care of the welfare of its subjects. It does not appear that the Guild is infringing upon any of the rights of the petitioners as it is not standing in the way of the petitioners from publishing their books or newspapers.

The fair held by the Guild is not the only book fair that is being held in the State. There are several fairs held by several authorities. The fair held by the Guild may be highly popular and may attract maximum footfall but only because an event has gained such amount of popularity the same cannot be termed as a public event and the authority organising the said event cannot be treated as 'other authorities' under Article 12 of the Constitution, she added.

Notably, even the Association For Protection Of Democratic Rights had been denied a stall at this year's book fair, and their plea before the High Court had been dismissed as not maintainable.

Case: Vishva Hindu Parishad, Dakshinbanga & Anr. Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Case No: WPA No. 1373 of 2025

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