Calcutta High Court dismisses CPI-M plea seeking compensation for vandalised Durga Puja Bookstalls

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Tuesday, had a petition filed to seek compensation for alleged vandalisation of its book stall near community Durga Puja stalls, throughout the city of West Bengal, dismissed by the Calcutta High Court.

The services committee of the CPI-M’s Jadavpur area had filed the petition in South Kolkata before the single- judge vacation bench of Justice Pratim Roy on Tuesday afternoon, which was heard for a special sitting.

In the course of the hearing, Justice Roy noted that a similar petition relating to the CPI-M bookstalls was on with a division bench of the Calcutta High Court. The case will be heard before the division bench of the Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge next year in January.

Taking cognisance of the pendency of the matter, Justice Roy opined there was no need for hearing on the matter before a vacation bench. The petition was later rejected by the court.

The judge also cited an earlier order issued by the division bench headed by the Chief Justice in a related case in which a book stall of CPI-M was removed from the vicinity of a Durga Puja pandal. In that regard, the division bench noted that stalls that are not registered by the police must be eliminated and can be removed by the police.

The development happened broadly as several bookstalls put up by the CPI-M have been damaged in West Bengal during the Durga Puja celebrations since they started, with reports of damages in Kolkata, the state capital.

In response to the incidents, the party had called for legal protest and compensation. Tuesday’s dismissal was, however, without prejudice of a separate hearing before the vacation bench and the issue will go back on for hearing before the division bench in January.

Currently, the matter has spurred renewed focus on conflicts over political bookstalls by community Durga Puja pandals and the need for their permission to be set up.