On Monday, the Calcutta High Court granted permission to around 40 organizations, including various doctors’ associations, to hold protest rallies on Tuesday in Kolkata.
The rallies, scheduled between 5 PM and 8 PM, are in response to the brutal rape and murder of a woman doctor that took place last month.
Tuesday’s date was chosen deliberately, as it coincides with both Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and Mahalaya Amavasya, an important Hindu observance day for honoring ancestors.
However, the rally faced obstacles when Kolkata Police issued prohibitory orders, restricting large gatherings along a major stretch of the proposed rally route from Esplanade in central Kolkata to Rabindra Sadan in the south.
This forced the rally organizers to seek legal intervention from the Calcutta High Court.
Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj heard the case, where the state government’s counsel demanded an estimated number of participants from the rally organizers.
In response, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, a CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member and advocate representing the petitioners, argued that such estimates were impossible to provide, given the public nature of the rally.
Justice Bhardwaj questioned the state’s stance on limiting participation, asking how authorities could prevent potentially thousands of people from peacefully exercising their democratic right to protest.
“How can the administration curb that citing traffic problems as the reason?” he asked, emphasizing the importance of preserving democratic freedoms.
The judge further advised the state administration to manage the crowd during the rally, drawing a comparison to the Durga Puja festivities, when millions of people take to the streets for pandal visits
He remarked that no Puja organizer can predict the number of visitors, yet the administration handles the situation effectively.
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