The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on Friday an appeal challenging decision of Mamata Banerjee’s government in Bengal to grant Rs 10,000 each to puja committees in the state for Durga Puja celebrations.
The Calcutta High Court had on Wednesday refused to interfere with the Mamata Banerjee government’s decision of granting funds to 28,000 Durga Puja committees in the state, saying the legislature is the appropriate forum to decide on such expenditure. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph was apprised about the same Thursday.
Lawyer Saurabh Dutta, who had filed an appeal against the high court’s decision, told the bench that the decision of the state government was against the established principle of law and sought an urgent hearing on his plea.
The petition assails the decision of the state government to grant a total of Rs. 28 crore to Puja organizers as being against the principles of secularism, which is a part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution of India. It is contended that there is no public purpose involved in organizing Durga Puja, which is a religious programme.
On September 10, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had declared that Rs 10,000 would be given to each of the 28,000 puja committees across the state — 3,000 in the city and 25,000 in the districts, costing the government an amount of Rs 28 crore.
However, the petitioners said there were no guidelines for disbursing the Rs 28 crore the state had earmarked for this purpose. The High Court had asked the state’s counsel if the distribution of such a large amount of money involved any guidelines.
The High Court had refused to go into the challenge against the state government’s decision to grant money to Durga Puja committees, stating that it would not want to interfere with the manner in which the Executive utilised government funds.
The State in turn had submitted before the High Court that the funds will be used for assisting the police under its Traffic Safety Campaign, and not for religious purposes.
The petitioner argued, “Since no public purpose would be served by granting money and/or handing out concessions to Durga Puja organizers, the said decision of the state violates the provision of Article 282 of the Constitution of India and thus, the said decision of granting money to the puja committees is liable to be set aside. There is no provision of law by which State exchequer could be utilized for giving gift to puja organizer.”
Further, it argued that the use of tax payers’ money for repair or construction of any religious place offends the spirit and object of Article 27 of the Constitution. Article 27 of the Constitution of India says no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination.
Lawyer Saurav Datta, in his plea in the Supreme Court, alleged that the Mamata Banerjee-led government’s decision was against the established principle of law, and sought an urgent hearing, PTI reported. “The High Court failed to appreciate that there is no public purpose involved in organising Durga Puja, rather, it is a religious programme,” the plea said.
The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who agreed to list the case tomorrow.