The much awaited verdict on BJP’s petition seeking permission for Rath Yatra in Bengal was likely to be delivered on Thursday, Calcutta High Court lawyers said. The BJP had gone to the Court against Trinamool Congress Government’s denial of permission for the Yatra on grounds of communal tension.
In a prolonged argument on Wednesday the State Government submitted before the Court of Justice Tapabrata Chakrabarty that in denying the permission the Government had relied on intelligence reports apprehending communal disharmony and the leaflets with communal undertone distributed by the saffron party along the proposed routes of the Yatra.
This even as the BJP counsels hinged their contention on the party’s claim of a “purely political programme” under the banner of Save Democracy Yatra in support of which the saffron leadership has been staging civil disobedience movement throughout the State.
The Court however asked the Government as to what prevented the administration to curtail the number of rallyists and re-chart the route of the Yatra saying in a democracy whether it was possible to stall a rally merely on the grounds of apprehension or intelligence reports and whether the State Government would have taken a similar step had such a programme been taken up by some other outfit.
The Court was likely to deliver its judgment on Thursday when both the BJP and the Government’s counsels will be allowed to further place their arguments for 15 minutes each. Sources on both sides said that petition of appeal had already been prepared and the side that lost the case would immediately proceed on appeal.
The BJP had announced three Yatras each from Coochbehar in North Bengal, Birbhum and Kakdwip near Ganga Sagar Islands. All the Yatras were to be inaugurated by party chief Amit Shah and would be addressed at intervals by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister was likely to speak at the end of the three Yatras that would converge at the historic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on January 23.