WBSSC scam: HC allows peaceful protests during Durga Puja

Kolkata, Sep 30 (IANS): A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday upheld the rights of agitators for peaceful protests during the forthcoming Durga Puja against the multi-crore teacher's recruitment scam. A group of agitators sought the permission of the Calcutta High Court to conduct peaceful protest demonstrations on the streets of Kolkata. However, the state government objected to that petition claiming that the police administration will be busy in traffic management during the festival days, and any permission to continue with the protests will cause inconvenience both for the police administration as well as for the common people who will be out in the streets to enjoy the festival days. However, on Friday afternoon, Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha ruled out the state government's argument on this count and chose to uphold the right of the agitators for peaceful protest. "The eligible candidates are protesting on the streets in demand of their legitimate jobs and the police are unwilling to honour their rights for peaceful protests citing puja as the excuse. This argument is not at all acceptable," Justice Mantha observed while passing the judgement. However, he said that the place of peaceful protest will have to be decided on the basis of discussions between the police administration and the protesters. "It can be either under the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Mayo Road or at Rani Rashmoni Road. The place will have to be mutually decided through discussion," Justice Mantha observed further. Recently, a number of judges of Calcutta High Court have made a number of important observations on the teachers' recruitment irregularities scam. First, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay observed that those getting jobs illegally against any consideration should either resign or be ready to face severe punishment as prescribed by the court. On Thursday, Justice Biswajit Basu expressed solidarity to Justice Gangopadhyay and said he is also ready to be a part of the battle against corruption. Justice Mantha's observation on Friday afternoon is the latest on this count.