The Supreme Court on Friday, 12 October, issued a notice to the West Bengal government based on a plea challenging its decision to grant Rs 10,000 each to Durga Puja committee.
The Court has also sought a detailed affidavit from the government within the next six weeks, ANI reported.
The decision was earlier upheld by Calcutta High Court, which on Wednesday, 10 October, had refused to accept the PIL.
The high court’s decision came after it had ordered an interim stay on the TMC-led West Bengal government’s decision to pay the grants, till Tuesday, 9 October.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Debasish Kar Gupta and Justice Shampa Sarkar, had earlier responded to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Dyutiman Chatterjee and a civilian, Sourav Gupta.
According to their statement, the state government had been asked to file an affidavit clarifying the points raised by the bench, by Tuesday.
The PIL was filed in response to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s statement, made on 10 September, that the government would give 28,000 puja committees in the state, which includes 3,000 in Kolkata, a one-time grant of Rs 10,000 each. This move would cost the public exchequer Rs 28 crore, the report added.
Criticising this move, former Kolkata mayor and counsel for petitioners Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya told Hindustan Times:
“The decision of the state government is unconstitutional since we live in a secular state and it cannot patronise a religious festival in this manner.”
“The government argued that the donation was given to promote the state’s campaign for safe driving that carries the slogan ‘safe drive, save life’. The court was not satisfied with the reply and sought an affidavit from the state government,” he added, Hindustan Times reported.
How to Take Back the Money: Mamata
Responding to the court’s order, Banerjee said that although the government has “full respect” for the court, it would be a difficult task to take back the money it had already given to the Puja committees.
“We have full respect for the court. But we have already given the money (to Puja committees). How will we take the money back?”Mamata Banerjee, as reported by Hindustan Times
BJP, CPI(M) Welcome Court Order
On the other hand, Opposition parties in the state, such as the BJP and the CPI(M), welcomes the court’s order.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said that this was the TMC-led government’s attempt to pacify the Hindu voters, to secure their votes ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to the newspaper, he said:
“We welcome the court order. What the state government is doing is nothing but ‘dole politics’. Earlier also, with an eye on Muslim votes, the government had announced allowances for Imams. Now, this has been done to pacify Hindus... we all must remember that India is a secular country and we can't preach such kind of politics.”
The CPI(M) also slammed the TMC-led government, saying that they had grossly “violated” the Constitution, as it is not allowed to spend public money on any religious festival, the report added.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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