In a major relief to the state government ahead of Durga puja, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which had been filed against the state government's decision to give an amount of Rs 10,000 to each of the 28,000 puja committees across the state, which would cost the state exchequer an Rs 28 crore.
A division bench of acting chief justice Debasish Kar Gupta and justice Sampa Sarkar accepted the argument of the state advocate general (AG) Kishore Dutta that the decision of allowing the grant to puja committees was an executive order and the court could not interfere in a legislative decision. The court also observed that the matter could be taken up after the next state budget. The court said that there is a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to look into these matters. If need be, the PAC will have to take up the matter.
After Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the grant for puja committees on September 11, a PIL was filed by lawyer Dyutiman Banerjee and one Saurav Gupta.
On October 5, after lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya argued that if the expenses were to be made for a religious function there should have been a budgetary allocation, the court put a stay on the government's decision. But the AG, who had earlier said that the amount had been granted for the promotion of 'Safe Drive Save Life' movement of the state government, argued on Tuesday, that it was an executive decision taken by the government. Lawyer Shaktinath Mukherjee too argued in the state's favour that the court could not interfere in the matter as, in a democratic setup, the decision of the cabinet was final.
After Wednesday's court order, state union development minister Firhad Hakim said that there were some people who were trying to pull the state back from its development track. "There are some professional 'mamlabaaj' (those fond of moving court) who want to taint the reputation of the government. People are watching this and realising who is who. They will give a fitting reply," he said.
Dutta said that they were exploring other legal opportunities. "The decision to grant money to puja committees will definitely not help in a sustainable development. We are looking at other legal steps that can be taken," he said.
Sources said that the petitioners will move Supreme Court challenging the High Court's order.
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