New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to give the go ahead for the BJP’s 'rath yatra' in West Bengal, stating that the apprehension of the state government surrounding the possible law and order situation cannot be called "unfounded". However, the top court allowed them to hold public meetings and rallies.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked BJP's West Bengal unit to submit a revised schedule of its proposed 'rath yatra' with the authorities and seek necessary approvals.
The bench also comprising Justices L N Rao and SK Kaul asked the West Bengal government to consider the revised schedule of BJP for 'rath yatra' keeping in mind the fundamental right of speech and expression under the Constitution.
“The petitioner has to satisfy the state about the apprehensions by submitting a fresh proposal (meeting the guidelines),” said the SC.
Speaking to News18, state BJP President Dilip Ghosh said, “We respect the directive of the Supreme Court (SC). We don’t want to comment anything against the order. We will follow the directive and will try to organise rallies and public meetings across Bengal.
“We wanted the yatra to make maximum impact in Bengal but we are not disappointed. We will submit fresh proposal for our meetings and rallies to the state government.”
West Bengal Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee, said, “We welcome the SC’s decision. This is a big lesson for the BJP. I am sure they will never ever think again to organize such yatra in Bengal. I personally feel that such yatra will divide people and will create an atmosphere of communal disharmony. I am very happy.”
Earlier, the BJP's West Bengal unit had approached the apex court seeking permission to take out the rally, which would cover 42 parliamentary constituencies in the state. In its plea, the BJP has said that their fundamental right to hold a peaceful 'Yatra' cannot be withheld.
The high court's division bench had sent the case back to a single-judge bench to hear it afresh and also to consider the 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 bench.
The rallies, according to the original schedule, were supposed to be flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah from Cooch Behar district on December 7, Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas on December 9, and from Tarapith temple in Birbhum on December 14.
In the plea filed in the top court, the BJP's West Bengal unit contended that authorities cannot abridge their right and they have a duty to facilitate them in exercising their democratic right.
The BJP alleged in the plea that the state government was repeatedly "attacking" the fundamental right of citizens due to which different petitions have been filed challenging the activities of the state government in denying permission to different organisations.
It has claimed that earlier too, permission was denied several times at the last moment to "harass the BJP" which later moved the high court and that the party "is facing such political vendetta since 2014 in West Bengal".
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