Calcutta HC
NEW DELHI: The Calcutta high court on Wednesday allowed the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) faction to hold its annual July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally at a site near the Birla Planetarium instead of its traditional venue in front of Victoria House in central Kolkata.Justice Saugata Bhattacharya directed the Kolkata Police to shift the venue, citing the need to ensure smooth traffic movement and maintain law and order.The court said allowing the rally at its traditional venue in front of Victoria House was not feasible as it would also severely disrupt traffic connecting north and central Kolkata.The TMC has been holding the Martyrs’ Day rally in front of Victoria House at Esplanade in central Kolkata for years.The court noted that two other July 21 rallies — one by the Congress and another by the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rival TMC faction — are also scheduled in the Esplanade area and directed the police to deploy adequate personnel to maintain law and order.Justice Bhattacharya directed the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction to limit attendance to around 2,500 people and hold the rally between 12 pm and 3:30 pm on the rally day. The organisers were also asked to submit the names and contact details of 20 volunteers to the Kolkata Police to ensure compliance with the court’s directions.During the hearing, the TMC faction submitted that it has held the July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally at Victoria House almost every year since 1993 and challenged the Kolkata Police’s prohibitory order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) around the venue. It proposed alternative locations, including Metro Channel and the Birla Planetarium.The BJP-led state government opposed holding the rally near the other two events, citing potential law and order concerns, and also objected to the Birla Planetarium venue because of nearby hospitals and schools.The Martyrs’ Day rally commemorates the 13 Congress workers killed during a protest in 1993, when Mamata Banerjee was the president of the Youth Congress, the Congress party’s youth wing. The event has since become the TMC’s annual Martyrs’ Day programme.
