The apex court appreciated the point and issued notice on the petition seeking response of the West Bengal government.
The Durga Puja dole of Rs 28 crore by the Mamata Banerjee government got caught in a legal tangle in Supreme Court on Friday. Although the Court did not pass any order staying the disbursement of Rs 10,000 each to 28,000 Puja organisers, the judges gave six weeks for the state government to explain how a government carrying out secular functions could release public funds for a religious cause.
Quoting Mamata Banerjee, that the money was a "gift" from the state government, the PIL filed by a Kolkata resident Sourav Dutta wondered how the state funds could be utilised for organising an event purely religious in nature. The money had already gone to the intended beneficiaries – 3,000 Puja committees in Kolkata and 25,000 across the state.
Defending the state before a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta was senior advocate Kapil Sibal. He argued the money was not paid to these Committees by the police department to ensure effective traffic management. But the petitioner wondered what public purpose was involved in organising Durga Puja as only then can the state be expected to play any role. Article 282 of Constitution permits state government to provide grant-in-aid for any public purpose. According to the petitioner, the event was solely a religious programme and the action of the state to dole out money had a tendency to incite communal passions among communities and violated Article 282 as well.
It was further argued that such actions by any state should not be encouraged as it violates the secular principle enshrined in the Constitution where an elected government cannot have a religion. The petitioner wondered that if such monetary gifts are accepted, taxpayers' money will be utilised towards repair and maintenance of religious institutions and structures as well.
The apex court appreciated the point and issued notice on the petition seeking response of the West Bengal government. Dutta had earlier approached the Calcutta High Court with a similar request. On Monday, HC refused to stay the decision leaving it to the discretion of the state government.
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