Calcutta High Court has denied permission to BJP for holding a ‘rath yatra‘ from West Bengal’s Coochbehar district tomorrow.
The BJP planned to take out three rallies in West Bengal, which would have begun from Coochbehar in the north tomorrow, from Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district on December 9 and from the Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14. At the conclusion of the ‘yatra‘, the BJP planned to hold a rally in Kolkata, which was likely to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to the reports, the Calcutta HC will hear the case again on January 9.
The order comes in the wake of West Bengal government informing the court that it refused to give permission for the proposed ‘rath yatra‘ by BJP president Amit Shah on grounds that it might cause “communal tension”.
Bengal’s advocate general Kishore Dutta said in court,”The state submitted that it might cause communal tension.”
When asked who will take responsibility if anything unfortunate happens, BJP counsel Anindya Mitra said, “It is the duty of the state government to maintain law and order.”
The advocate general opposed the BJP filing a supplementary affidavit opposing the refusal of permission by the court. He said, “It can either come with a fresh petition or an amendment to his petition.”