The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday allowed the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress to hold a youth wing rally in south Kolkata on Wednesday, overturning the police decision to deny it.
However, Justice Saujata Bhattacharya ordered that the rally should start from Ballygunge Vari, move along Hazrat Road and end at the four-point Hazrat Junction, and not Lansdowne Market as TMC had planned earlier.
The court also asked the TMC to organize the march between 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm to avoid rush hour traffic during weekdays.
The march is being organized to protest the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in South 24 Parganas Baruipur district on Sunday.
The petition claimed that Kolkata Police refused to allow Monday’s rally, saying it would cause inconvenience to people, and pointed out the presence of a hospital and several schools in the area.
Senior advocate and TMC Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee argued that the government cannot dictate when the party should hold a rally.
Additional Solicitor General Rajdeep Majumdar, appearing for the state, said the application seeking permission was not submitted before 15 days, which is a mandatory rule. The court did not consider this argument.
