Calcutta High Court Dismisses CPI-M Compensation Plea For Bookstall Vandalism

A single-judge vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) seeking compensation for the vandalisation of their bookstalls near different community Durga Puja pandals in different part of West Bengal during the ongoing festival days.

After the CPI-M's Jadavpur area committee in South Kolkata moved the Calcutta High Court with its petition seeking compensation, the matter was taken up for hearing on an urgent basis by the single-judge vacation bench of Justice Partha Pratim Roy on Tuesday afternoon.

At the end of the hearing Justice Roy said that already a similar petition about CPI-M book stall hearing is pending which will be held in January next year at the division bench led by the Calcutta High Court's Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge.

Justice Roy has said that there was no need for a separate hearing on the matter by any vacation bench after which he dismissed the petition.

During the hearing, Justice Roy also reminded that in a similar case regarding eviction of CPI-M's bookstall near a Puja Pandal, Chief Justice Ghuge's division bench has said that the stall set up without police permission should not be allowed to operate and the police would remove the stalls.

During Durga Puja, allegations of vandalism of CPI-M-organised bookstalls in various parts of the state, including Kolkata, have been reported since the festive days started.

On the night of Saptami, two CPI-M bookstalls were also allegedly vandalised in Jadavpur area. Political debates have started over that incident.

Several intellectuals and members of civil society have condemned the events of vandalism at CPI-M bookstalls.

West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta, a journalist-turned-politician, had condemned the incident and said that such events were not only unfortunate but also shameful.

"I could have understood if the event was an isolated incident. But it happened in three or four places. I cannot accept this in any way. We have ideological differences with the Left Parties. But why do some people not let them sell books? Who are they? Who gave them this right? Such matters are reprehensible. I feel ashamed. May this never happen again," Dasgupta added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)