Rath Yatra row: SC notice to West Bengal govt over not allowing BJP to hold Rath Yatra in state

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the West Bengal government after hearing the state BJP’s plea against a Calcutta High Court order for not allowing its Rath Yatra to progress in the state. The BJP has fresh plans to start the rallies from four places in Bengal and covering all 42 of the state’s Lok Sabha constituencies. The Bengal government will now have two weeks’ time to respond to the matter after which it will be listed for further hearing. A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice SK Kaul also asked the BJP’s Bengal unit to submit a revised plan for its rallies for consideration by the state government. The apex court will hear the BJP’s plea on 15 January.

#NewsAlert -- Supreme Court notice to West Bengal government over rath yatra matter. @BJP4India had appealed against Calcutta High Court's decision. Detailed inputs by @utkarsh_aanand. pic.twitter.com/M298lHIJYY

— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 8, 2019

The Supreme Court had, on 3 January, agreed to hear the West Bengal BJP’s plea against the Calcutta High Court’s 21 December order, which had set aside the order of a single judge allowing the yatra. The party had approached the apex court seeking permission to hold the “Save Democracy Rally”, which would cover all the constituencies in the state ahead of the 2019 general elections. Initially, the party had planned to launch the yatra from three districts of the state. The Calcutta High Court’s division bench had earlier sent the case back to the single judge to hear it afresh and also to consider intelligence inputs by state agencies. The order of the division bench had come after hearing an appeal moved by the West Bengal government challenging the order of the single judge. The rallies, according to the original schedule, were supposed to be flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah from Bengal’s Cooch Behar district on 7 December, Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas on 9 December and from Tarapith temple in Birbhum on 14 December. [caption id=“attachment_5307291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] In the plea filed in the apex court, the BJP’s West Bengal unit had contended that authorities cannot abridge their right and they have a duty to facilitate them in exercising their democratic right. The plea had alleged that the state government was repeatedly “attacking” the fundamental right of citizens. Article 19, which promises Indian citizens freedom of speech and expression, was one of the clauses invoked by the BJP at court on Tuesday. Aryama Sundaram, who appeared on behalf of the BJP said, “The BJP’s fundamental right of protest was being curtailed.” A News18 report from the Supreme Court premises said he argued that the Rath Yatra was “just a contact programme which cannot be muzzled by the state under the garb of maintaining peace”. Sundaram also argued that it was “unconstitutional” and against the tenets of democracy to bar a particular rally on grounds that the BJP alleges are “flimsy, concocted and made on the behest of the Trinamool Congress government in the state”. The Supreme Court found the matter merited detailed examination. The BJP had wanted the petition to be listed during the winter break but the Bengal government had opposed it. Even the registrar had not found merit in the BJP’s claim that the case needed urgent hearing by a bench specially constituted during the vacation. With inputs from PTI