Setback for Mamata Banerjee, Calcutta High Court allows Durga idol immersion on Muharram

In a big setback to Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday overturned its order on Durga idol immersion on Muharram.

The High Court said the Durga idols can be immersed till midnight.

The High Court has directed the state police to decide the routes for idol immersion and Muharram procession.

Slamming the state government, the High Court said, “You are exercising extreme power without any basis...Just because you are the state, can you pass arbitrary order?”

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had banned the immersion of Durga idols after 10 pm on September 30 and on October 1, which happens to be Muharram.

The state government had reasoned the ban due to a probable law-and-order situation.

However, the High Court told the government, "If you get a dream, that something will go wrong, you cannot impose restrictions."

Questioning the West Bengal government's curbs on Durga idol immersion, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday had said the state cannot hinder a citizen's right to practise religion on the basis of a mere assumption of law and order disruption and must provide sound reasons for doing so.

"Let them (Hindus and Muslims) live in harmony, do not create a line between them," Acting Chief Justice Rakesh Tiwary said, asking the government to provide a "concrete ground" for its decision to stop the immersion of Durga idols on September 30 and October 1st.