Calcutta High Court allows RSS chief’s rally in Bengal’s Burdwan

The Calcutta High Court on Friday allowed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to hold a rally on Sunday in West Bengal’s Burdwan city. The Hindutva organisation’s chief Mohan Bhagwat is expected to address the event.

The RSS had approached the court on Thursday after the West Bengal government denied permission for the rally citing the organiser’s intention to use loudspeakers, The Indian Express reported. The state said that the exams of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education were underway.

In its plea, the RSS contended that without the use of a sound system, the speaker’s message will not reach the audience.

The state government’s prohibitory order, issued by the environment department, said that the permission was denied to comply with a 2022 High Court ruling banning loudspeakers in areas near educational institutions, three days prior to exams.

“[A]s the event has been scheduled on a Sunday, which is a holiday and, that too, for only one hour and 15 minutes…hence, there is no scope for causing any interference or disturbance to the examinees at the time of the examination,” the court said on Friday while granting permission for the rally.

However, the single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha imposed conditions on the organisers that the rally be held in a way that “does not cause any inconvenience to…

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