Durga Puja committees yet to submit utilisation certificates should not get funds: Calcutta HC

Kolkata, Aug 25 The Calcutta High Court on Monday observed that no funds should be released to the Durga Puja committees that have not submitted the previous year's utilisation certificates.

A division bench of Justices Sujoy Pal and Smita Das De questioned why grants should be given to puja committees even if they have not submitted expenditure accounts.

Hearing a PIL filed by Sourav Dutta, the bench directed the West Bengal government to state its position on this matter in an affidavit by Wednesday, when the matter will be heard again.

The judges wanted to know how many puja committees have not submitted the last year's utilisation certificates, as they observed that there is a need to think about those who do not provide an account of expenses even after receiving such funds.

The court also reminded that in the case related to Durga Puja grants, the previous Calcutta High Court order had mentioned the submission of expense accounts.

As state Advocate General Kishore Dutta said that since the court has never imposed a ban on giving donations, the case should be heard after Durga Puja, but the state will file an affidavit before that, the bench said that the case will lose its importance if heard after the festival.

Although the court has repeatedly asked to provide an account of the Puja donations, there are repeated complaints that it is not being done. As a result, the court should be informed about the action taken against clubs which have not provided an account.

The Advocate General said that in March 2023, the court was informed that more than 500 puja committees were given grants. Out of this, 36 puja committees did not submit utilisation certificates.

At this, the bench said it does not want to go into numbers and asked if action has been taken against the puja committees which did not submit certificates regarding expenditure accounts as per the court's order in 2022.

It asked whether these committees will be given grants this time too.

In 2022, the state government had told the court that the grants were given to raise awareness about 'Safe Drive Save Life' and to comply with the coronavirus restrictions.

Two PILs have been filed at the Calcutta High Court against the Durga Puja grant. One of the PILs has been filed by Durgapur resident Dutta, who has questioned why money from the state exchequer should be used to provide Durga Puja grants.

In 2022, the Calcutta High Court had imposed conditions on the Durga Puja grant, including a requirement for puja committees to submit utilisation certificates.

The state government started providing financial assistance to the puja committees in 2018. In the first year, the grant was Rs 10,000. In 2019, it was increased to Rs 25,000. After that, the amount of the grant continued to increase every year. Last year, it was increased to Rs 85,000.

This year, the Chief Minister Mamata has increased the grant for Durga Puja by Rs 25,000 to Rs 1,10,000 for each club, entailing a cost of almost Rs 500 crore to the state exchequer.

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