Kolkata, May 4 A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed a protest rally in demand of enhanced dearness allowance and arrears accrued on it for the West Bengal government employees to pass through a road adjacent to the residences of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha also permitted the Joint Forum of State Government Employees, an umbrella organisation spearheading the movement, to conduct a meeting at the end of the rally on Hazra crossing in South Kolkata, which is less than a kilometre from the residences of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee.
Both the rally and the meeting are scheduled on May 6.
The state administration was reluctant to give permission for the rally to pass though Harish Mukherjee Road considering its proximity to the residences of the Chief Minister and her nephew. The joint forum had approached the bench of Justice Mantha, the hearing for which was conducted on Thursday.
The counsel for the state government said that since Harish Mukherjee Road has been identified as a "sensitive zone", permitting a rally to pass through it might lead to breach of security. He also informed the court that Section 144 is imposed in parts of the route through which the rally has been proposed to pass through.
The counsel for the joint forum and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya argued that the police imposed Section 144 in that area only after May 3, before which the forum had applied for police permission.
"If Section 144 is imposed in that area, it can be perceived that the rally will pass through one of the most peaceful routes in the city. Political meetings are held every alternate day at Hazra crossing. So why the objection about Harish Mukherjee Road," Justice Mantha asked.
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