High Court turns down plea for Hanuman Jayanti rally at Kolkata's Red Road

IANS April 12, 2025 285 views

The Calcutta High Court has rejected a plea by Hindu Sewa Dal to conduct a Hanuman Jayanti rally at Red Road in Kolkata. Both single-judge and division benches declined the request, citing lack of historical precedence for such a rally at the location. The court suggested alternative venues near Red Road for the event. Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari was granted permission for a separate Hanuman Jayanti rally in North Kolkata.

"There is no precedence of Hanuman Jayanti rally at Red Road" - Justice Tirthaknkar Ghosh
Kolkata, April 12: First a single-judge bench and then a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Friday, turned down the plea by a group, Hindu Sewa Dal, to conduct a rally on Red Road in Central Kolkata on April 12 on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.

Key Points

1

Calcutta HC refuses rally on Red Road after comparing with Eid Namaz tradition

2

Division bench suggests alternative venues

3

Single-judge bench declines initial petition

4

Suvendu Adhikari granted separate rally permission

The group earlier approached the single-judge bench of Justice Tirthaknkar Ghosh for permission for the rally. The matter came up for hearing on Friday and Justice Ghosh questioned why the petitioner was insisting on Red Road as the venue of the rally. The counsel of the petitioner argued that if permission can be granted for Namaz of Eid at Red Road every year, the same permission can be granted for the Hanuman Jayanti rally.

However, Justice Ghosh refused to buy that logic. He observed that the Namaz of Eid at Red Road has been performed for about 100 years. But there is no such precedence of Hanuman Jayanti rally at Red Road, Justice Ghosh observed.

Thereafter, the single-judge bench declined the permission for the Hanuman Jayanti rally at Red Road.

The petitioner immediately approached the Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chattopadhyay, challenging the single-judge bench order. However, the division bench too declined to permit the Hanuman Jayanti rally at Red Road. Instead, the division bench suggested two alternative venues that are quite near the Red Road.

Only on Thursday, the same single-judge bench of Justice Ghosh had granted permission to the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, to conduct a rally through a particular route in North Kolkata on April 12 on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.

However, Justice Ghosh imposed a number of conditions for conducting the rally scheduled on a route in North Kolkata and is supposed to end at a temple of Lord Hanuman.

The Leader of the Opposition approached Justice Ghosh's bench after the Kolkata Police denied permission to conduct the rally.

Reader Comments

P
Priya M.
The court's reasoning makes sense. If there's no historical precedent for Hanuman Jayanti at Red Road, why force it now? There are plenty of other places to celebrate 🙏
R
Rahul K.
Interesting how Adhikari got permission for his rally but this group didn't. Makes you wonder about the consistency in these decisions 🤔
S
Sunita P.
As a Kolkata resident, I appreciate the court maintaining order. Red Road is already so crowded - adding another major event would create chaos. The alternative venues sound reasonable!
A
Amit D.
While I understand the religious sentiment, the comparison to Eid prayers isn't fair. One is a 100-year tradition, the other would be new. Courts have to consider these historical contexts.
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Neha T.
The court could have been more transparent about why one Hanuman Jayanti event was approved and another wasn't. This selective permission doesn't sit right with me.
V
Vikram S.
Happy to see the court upholding law and order while still respecting religious sentiments by suggesting alternative venues. This is how sensible governance should work 👏

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Tags:
Hanuman Jayanti Calcutta High Court Hindu Sewa Dal Red Road Religious Rally Justice Ghosh Kolkata
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