Event Scheduled On A Sunday Which Is Holiday: Calcutta HC Overrules State's Objection To RSS Rally Citing Exams In Schools

The petitioner, a Zilla Karyavaha of the RSS, had submitted that the event was essential for addressing RSS volunteers and their families, and it had received permission from the Sports Authority of India to take place at their complex. However, the Department of Environment had prohibited the use of microphones or sound systems for the gathering.

The event had initially been denied approval by the State due to concerns about potential disturbance during the ongoing Madhyamik examinations in nearby schools, particularly regarding the use of loudspeakers.

A Bench of Justice Amrita Sinha held, “Admittedly, the Madhyamik Examination is ongoing. However, as the event has been scheduled on a Sunday which is a holiday and, that too, for only 1 hour and 15 minutes and, according to the instruction of the State respondents, the nearest school in the locality is nearly 500 meters away from the SAI complex, hence, there is no scope for causing any interference or disturbance to the examinees at the time of the examination.”

The Court added, “The Court, accordingly, permits the petitioner to conduct the event in such a manner so that it does not cause any inconvenience to any of the examinees who may be busy with their examination preparation.”

Senior Advocates Dhiraj Trivedi appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate General Kishore Dutta appeared for the Respondents.

The petitioner assured that no loudspeakers would be used, only sound boxes, and the sound would be limited to the event's immediate vicinity.

The Advocate General had opposed the petition, citing a general prohibitory order issued since 2022, which restricts the use of loudspeakers and public address systems near educational institutions from three days before exams. This measure was put in place to ensure smooth exam operations. The Advocate General argued that the petitioner should have been aware of the restriction and should have scheduled the event outside of this period.

The Court, however, noted that the event was scheduled on a Sunday, when no exams would be taking place, and would only last for a short duration.

The Court allowed the petition with the condition that the organizers act responsibly and minimize any potential disturbance. It added, “The petitioner should behave in a responsible manner and ensure that the sound is kept to the minimum level so as not to cause any difficulty or problem to any person whatsoever.”

Cause Title: Debasish Choudhury v. The State Of West Bengal & Ors.

Appearance:

Petitioner: Senior Advocates Dhiraj Trivedi, Billwadal Bhattacharya, Nilanjan Bhattacharya, Rajdeep Majumdar, Advocates Amit Chakraborty, Dipankar Dandapath, Loknath Chatterjee, Debashis Basu, Anirban Mitra, Kaustav Chandra Das, Sushil Kumar Mishra, Sukanta Ghosh, Arijit Majumdar, Guddu Singh, B.P. Singh, Tarun Jyoti Tiwari, Subroto Santra, Anish Mukherjee, Bikash Kumar Singh, Shakshi Rathi, Sunil Gupta, Swapna Jha, Anirban Mitra, Supriti Sarkar, Katha Sarkar, Indrani Chakraborty, Manabendra Bandopadhyay.

Respondents: Senior Advocate Kishore Dutta, Sirsanya Bandopadhyay, Advocates Amrita Panja Moulick, Akash Dutta.