Advisory Cannot Be Taken As Rigid Rule: Calcutta HC Dismisses State’s Appeal, Clears Way For Amit Shah's Rally

An appeal was filed by the State against the order by a Single Bench where the Court had criticized the Police for denying permission twice for a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in Kolkata without providing any apparent reason, relying on computer-generated responses.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya held, “After going through the advisory, we find that the advisory cannot be taken as a rigid rule and in any event, the time limit of 02 to 03 weeks would itself suggest that there is discretion vested with the authorities and this time limit, obviously, is for the purpose of processing an application and cannot be used as a ground for rejection of an application.”

Senior Advocate Kishore Datta appeared for the appellants and Advocates Soumya Majumder and Loknath Chatterjee appeared for the respondents.

The counsel for the appellants argued that the rejection was in line with an advisory by the Kolkata Police, stating that applications should be submitted 2 to 3 weeks prior to the scheduled event.

The Court noted that the advisory is not a statute but a set of guidelines for applicants. The advisory's time limit is not a rigid rule, and discretion is vested with the authorities. The Court emphasized that the time limit is for processing, not for outright rejection.

The Court acknowledged the regular occurrence of processions, rallies, and meetings in the state, citing instances where such events took place without obtaining proper permission. The Court added, “The Court can take judicial notice of the fact that processions/rallies/meetings etc. are regular feature in the State of West Bengal and more particularly, in Kolkata. There have been several instances, which have come to the notice of the Court, where rallies/meetings and agitations have been held, where no permission has been obtained. In fact, very recently there was a large gathering of people agitating for a particular issue and the same paralysed the entire traffic movement in Kolkata and the police had a tough time to control the situation.”

The Court concluded that the rejection was not justified. It emphasized that the advisory should not be used as grounds for rejection and that the Single Bench was correct in setting aside the rejection and issuing appropriate directions.

The Court mentioned that the permission granted would be subject to reasonable restrictions, and the 28 conditions outlined in the format uploaded on the Kolkata Police website would be imposed and enforced.

Cause Title: The State of West Bengal & Ors. v. Jagannath Chattopadhyay

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