BJP moves SC challenging Calcutta HC order refusing permission for rath yatra

New Delhi, Dec 24: The BJP Monday moved a vacation bench of the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta high court order staying permission for its rath yatra in West Bengal.

The BJP had planned to launch “Save Democracy” yatras from three different locations in the state, crisscrossing it before converging in Kolkata.

 The West  Bengal government had earlier denied permission for the political rallies, saying it would lead to law and order problem in the state.

The BJP filed a plea, following which the party received the green signal from a single-judge bench of the same court on Thursday.

Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty said that it failed to see the reasoning behind the government’s argument and instead asked it to ensure that no breach of law-and-order occurs during the event.

The Mamata Banerjee government, however, appealed against the single-bench order before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Debasish Kargupta and Justice Shampa Sarkar which found the next day that Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty had not taken inputs from state intelligence agencies into account.

It had sent the case back with instructions that it study all the material submitted before arriving at a verdict.

After the initial favourable verdict from the single-judge bench, the BJP had planned to launch the first of its three yatras from Birbhum district on Saturday.